Asteria Nightmare
by Velkyn Karma
Summary: On this island, it's personal. The inhabitants don't just steal your body; they feed on your dreams. Features all Straw Hats. Nakamaship; no pairings. Complete.
1. Rumors

**Asteria Nightmare**

A fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Summary:** On this island, it's personal. The inhabitants don't just steal your body; they feed on your dreams. Features all Straw Hats. Nakamaship; no pairings.

**Note:** Aaaand we're back! This one takes place between the _Thriller Bark_ and _Sabaody Archipelago_ arcs and, as usual, the idea was spawned by a few arc themes that I wanted to explore. You will see as we go along. :)

**Warnings**: Rated T for some language and general...dark creepiness. What can I say, I am a fan of the creepy. Also this fic is going to be long. Like..._really_ long. Yeaaah...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own,_ One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"Shall I turn pirate king and go raiding in the West Indies, and fill a covert with gold from Spanish merchant ships for you?"<br>_~His Majesty's Dragon_, Naomi Novik

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><p>Nami knew, as soon as she saw the brilliantly flashing gemstones in the sunlight streaming through the jewel-crafter's shop windows, that she absolutely <em>had<em> to have them.

She considered, very briefly, attempting to pilfer a couple. She quashed the thought as quickly as it came, however. She knew she was a good thief—one of the best out there, enough to even earn her particular pirate title—but good as she was, she knew there was no way she'd ever be able to pull off a jewel heist here. The people of Adamantina, the 'Island of Gems,' prided themselves not only on their rich collection of rare minerals and expert jewelry crafters, but also in their ability to protect their many valuables.

Each jewelry shop on the island that she had seen so far—and there had been _dozens_ in this one section of the town alone—came equipped with at least three geohounds, enormous stone-like canines that fed on minerals and could smell rare gemstones yards away. The creatures were massive, almost as tall as Brook at the shoulder, and guarded each and every exit from the craft-shops they were owned by. Any thief trying to leave with a few pocketed rings or necklaces would quickly find themselves sniffed out and hunted down. If they were lucky, they would walk away afterwards. If not so lucky, they might lose a limb, or worse. Nami had no intention of getting on one of those ugly creatures' bad sides, not if she could do something about it, not even for millions of beri. You couldn't spend millions of beri if you were dead, after all.

Nami had first spotted the enormous geohounds when they docked at Adamantina that afternoon, while trying to ask the locals how long it would take her log pose to reset. After learning that the reset time was very short (a bare twelve hours, hardly anything compared to some of the other islands they had visited in the past) she had started wheedling the local jewel-shop caretakers into conversation to learn about the stone-creatures. Most of the shopkeeps were tight-lipped about the strange creatures, probably preferring the air of mystery they had about them. But Nami eventually found one who was talkative and willing to explain the unusual tourist attraction, in between his attempts to sell her dozens of things in his shop.

They were native to the island, she learned quickly, and had long ago been tamed by its inhabitants. Geohounds were imprinted at birth to specific owners via careful gem feeding, and remained steadfastly loyal to their masters for the rest of their five to ten year life-spans. They would not hesitate to chase down anyone identified through their training as a thief, and indeed reveled in the hunt and the protection of their master's property. It had been necessary, the shopkeep explained, to upgrade their security after pirates and other brigands constantly ran off with the island's valuable merchandise and livelihood on a regular basis.

"But why don't they attack people who buy the gems legally?" Nami asked, eyeing one of the stone dogs snoozing by the doorway a little nervously. The thing was a like a small mountain, and its snoring easily rivaled that of Zoro's...no, more like _ten_ Zoros.

"Scent," the shopkeep answered cheerfully. "When you pay for a piece, I put a special scent on it that the geohounds identify as a neutral warning. People can't smell it, but animals can. They know it means you've paid and aren't a threat. Here, try this necklace, miss...I think it would look lovely with your hair, don't you?"

Nami raised a hand to wave the item away. Every piece of jewelry in the shop _was_ beautiful, to be sure. The store had an enormous collection of emeralds, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls, opals, and dozens of other valuable gemstones, neatly crafted together with gold, silver, and platinum to create a variety of rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and pins. This shop alone was a veritable treasure trove of goodies, enough to keep any pirate happy for years, and it wasn't even the largest shop she had seen yet; Adamantina had earned its name as one of the world's leading markets in jewelry after all. But most of the pieces here were a bit too gaudy for Nami's taste, and_ all_ of it was far too expensive to obtain legally. It was the reason she inquired after the geohounds, after all. But she didn't think she would be getting anything past them without that special neutrality scent, and no matter how much she wheedled further, pretending to be an excitable tourist, the man only laughed at her and refused to show her how he scented the legal purchases.

He kept pressing more items at her, enthusiastically trying to make a sale, and Nami sighed and humored him a little, trying on the various necklaces and bracelets while trying to think of how to liberate one without being parted from her—er, the _crew's_ precious beri. Nothing came to mind, though, and she had just decided to leave and try her luck at a new store when a flash of light at the windows caught her interest.

That was when she saw them, and when she knew, more than ever, that she _had_ to have them.

"What are these?" she asked, twisting the current bracelet the shopkeep had her trying on off of her wrist and absently shoving it into his hand. She trotted over to the window display quickly, bending down to get a better look at the pieces inside.

They were exquisite. There was absolutely _no_ other word for them. Nami had long prided herself on her sharp eye for appraisal, and knew she could identify any gem and its worth in only a few moments, but these things stumped her. There were three of the gems, each one fairly small, set in matching rings with surprisingly simple clasps that didn't seem remotely similar to the rest of the store's decor. Unlike the other gems in the store, these ones didn't seem to have any particular color to call their own. They looked almost clear to Nami at first, like glass, but as she shifted position and the sunlight's angle changed, they seemed to shiver through a spectrum of colors—blue, red, green, yellow, purple, red again, all so fast it was nearly impossible to pick the individual colors apart. As quickly as they had flashed past, Nami could tell each color was strong and pure, revealing no inconsistencies or impurities in the gems themselves. Even without identifying them, Nami instinctively knew they were worth a fortune.

"You have an excellent eye, miss," the shop keeper said proudly, coming to stand beside her. "Those are the pride of my establishment. They're called Dreamshards. They're _extremely_ rare, you know? They wash over sometimes, from the nearby island. The local fishermen find them sometimes, or people along the beaches, and sell them to us. I'm lucky I managed to get a hold of these, we haven't seen too many of them in the past years."

"Can I hold one?" Nami asked, and was surprised to find her voice quavering with excitement and awe. The shopkeep cheerfully removed a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked the glass case the rings were held in, removing the piece with the largest gem and gently placing it in her cupped hands.

It felt almost _alive_, when she looked at it. It shivered through another spectrum of color again as she shifted it delicately in her fingers to pick it up and slipped it almost reverently onto her thumb (the ring shank was too large for any other finger and had clearly been made for a man). She was almost enthralled by the way the gem flashed, and ran her fingers over it carefully, almost afraid she would leave smudges or scratches. But no trace was left behind, and the gem shone as brilliantly as ever, smooth and warm to the touch.

"How much?" she found herself asking impulsively. A tiny part of her mind screeched that she was being too hasty, but the rest of her mind told herself firmly to shut up and take a backseat. Savings be damned...she was _getting_ this Dreamshard, one way or another.

But when the grinning shopkeep listed the price, her face immediately fell. It was easily five times the price of any other piece in the shop, even the most expensive gem-stuffed gaudy necklaces. Not even her insatiable desire for the Dreamshard would let her spend _that_ much, not even if she had it. Hell, just to afford the ring she'd need to sell at least one or two of the boys for their bounties, and as irritating as they could be about ninety-five percent of the time, she couldn't even justify that to herself.

"Even for the smaller one?" she asked, pointing at the smallest Dreamshard of the three, set daintily into a woman's ring.

"It isn't much less," the shopkeep said. He was now giving her an anxious look, part crestfallen and part irritated, as if he'd suddenly realized that she couldn't afford it and wouldn't take it.

"That's a ridiculous price for a ring!" Nami nearly shrieked. "You actually expect people to pay _that_ much for a single jewel set on one little band of silver?"

The shopkeep's expression grew stiff, and he adeptly plucked the ring off of her thumb before she could protest, placing it back in the case and locking it. "People pay it," he said crisply. "I've sold them before, miss. They're worth it. In fact, I probably undersell them, compared to other shops. Dreamshards are difficult to come by, you know? They're extremely rare, and nobody even knows how they're made."

"But they just come from the next island over!" Nami said in frustration. "You said so yourself! How hard can they be to get?"

The man suddenly looked afraid. "They come from Asteria Island, to be sure," the shopkeep said slowly, "But we don't go there. We find them when they wash up on shore, or when the fish eat them and the fishermen catch them. They're beautiful, but they're not worth it—hey!" His eyes widened as Nami suddenly spun away from him, marching for the exit. "Miss! Where are you going?"

"I'm not going to pay _that_ much for one stone when there's a whole island of them without competition," Nami said smugly. "You can stay here and wait for them to wash up on shore._ I'm_ going to go find a few for myself." Well, she'd force most of the others to do the grunt work, while she appraised the worth of the raw Dreamshards, but the end result was the same.

The jeweler looked scared now, and moved as if to grab her arm, stopping only at the last second when she glared warningly at him. "You can't go there, miss," he said anxiously. "Please don't! Look, I can offer you a three percent discount, if you like—just please, please don't go there!"

"What...afraid us pirates will steal your market?" Nami asked, still feeling quite smug.

But the man was shaking his head. "No, no, that's not it. I honestly wouldn't care if you managed to find a few on your own, Dreamshards are gifted by fortune...but I don't want you to sail to your death, miss! That island is very dangerous. _Very_ dangerous. Very few people who sail there every come back. Those who do are empty husks of their former selves, and talk of nothing but terrible nightmares..." He began wringing his hands anxiously, looking genuinely concerned.

That put a damper on Nami's spirit. Adamantina was located smack in the middle of the Grand Line, and like most of the Grand Line's inhabitants, its people were strong and usually fully capable of taking care of themselves. The citizens of this island were especially used to combat; pirates and other brigands attacked it regularly, determined to plunder it and strip it bare, and even the mildest of the locals had some way to defend themselves. Very little scared the Adamantians, but if this island caused them to react so fearfully...

For a second Nami considered forgetting her new plan. Jewels weren't really _necessary_, she thought to herself sadly. Certainly not worth risking one's life over. But a quick glance in the direction of the window-display strengthened her resolve almost instantly. One look at those beautiful and mysterious gems flashing in the sunlight in all different colors was enough to confirm for her that yes, a little danger _was_ worth those Dreamshards. And anyway, it wasn't as if it would be an impossible venture. Her captain was _Straw Hat Luffy_ for crying out loud, and backed up with the indomitable fighting spirits of Pirate Hunter Zoro and Black Leg Sanji she doubted anything would even come remotely close to causing them trouble.

She took one last glance at the shimmering Dreamshards, nodded resolutely, and then turned to the shopkeep. "The warning is appreciated," she said with a grin, "but we're still going. See you later. Thanks for the info." And, turning, she stepped casually over one huge paw of the still-snoring geohound, leaving the stunned shop keeper standing in the doorway.

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><p>Several hours later, Nami was extremely displeased to find her preparations had ground to a halt. Or more specifically, that they hadn't even gotten started to begin with.<p>

Her initial plan had been to get all the information she needed about this mysterious Asteria Island _first_, before approaching Luffy and the others with it. Her captain would inevitably be completely enthusiastic about the trip—it all but screamed of adventure, and coupled with the very real possibility of finding treasure, it was all the hook she needed for him. And Sanji-kun would swim through shark-infested waters for her if she asked him to, so she highly doubted he would object to the trip, either. But the others—especially Robin and Usopp, and maybe Chopper as well—would probably want more information before they began the trip, preferring a little more preparation. Not to mention she would need something to back up her suggestion-disguised order, just to keep Zoro from digging in his heels and being a general nuisance, since he tended to do that a lot.

Unfortunately, what she hadn't planned on was that no one on the island would _have_ the information she was looking for. Or more specifically, that they would point-blank refuse to give it to her.

At first she thought they were really just ignorant. Nami questioned a number of other jewelcrafters and shopkeepers, but no matter how she wheedled, bartered, begged, or batted her eyelashes, none of them would divulge information about Asteria Island. They all looked anxious when she asked, and changed the subject as soon as they could politely do so, looking fearful. A few more, guessing her intent to try and travel to the island, gave her similar warnings as the first shopkeep: that it was dangerous, and that if she traveled to the island, she would die. At the end of hours of questioning Nami had nothing to show for all her attempts but a headache. She still did not know _why_ the island was dangerous, or how the Dreamshards were created, or even where Asteria Island _was_.

She _did_ pick up on one thing, though. The villagers weren't ignorant—they were trying to protect her. Several of them did seem to know answers to her questions, but avoided them nervously, or tried to sidetrack her by showing her items from their stalls and shops. The few jewelcrafters exhibiting Dreamshard pieces seemed to avoid her questioning the most at all, and most frequently were the ones to warn her of the dangers. It seemed nobody was sharing anything because they didn't want her to go to the island, for one reason or another. Most claimed it was because it was too dangerous, but more and more Nami was beginning to wonder if it wasn't simply to protect their own economic interests.

In the end, frustrated at her lack of knowledge, Nami finally gave up and resorted to the last of her skills: theft. While she couldn't steal from any of the jewelry shops, and was not foolish enough to try it, with the geohounds towering by the doors and watching each and every person fiercely, that did not mean she could not steal from Adamantina at all. The geohounds were only useful for guarding precious gemstones and metals; they seemed curiously inept at smelling parchment. Nami was easily able to snatch a map of the nearby islands from one of the navigation shops, when the owner was distracted by another customer. She'd had to pilfer it from behind the counter—it was the only map in the place that showed Asteria's coordinates, and the man had refused to show it to her—but it was a worthwhile, er, _investment_ in the end.

She made for the _Thousand Sunny_ quickly after that, still careful to dodge and duck down extra streets and between houses to throw off any possible followers (she knew she hadn't been caught stealing, but better safe than sorry was her motto). Other than Chopper, on ship watch, she was the only one there. It gave her plenty of time to study the map closely and prepare a little incentive speech for her venture to the island of the Dreamshards, and by the time the rest of the crew arrived back on the _Sunny_ that evening (she'd predictably had to wait longer than anticipated for Zoro) her game plan was as ready as it would ever be.

Nami approached the subject at dinner, once Luffy's usual eating binge had slowed to a more tolerable, contented pace. "I have a new heading for us," she said.

Several of the crew, those not immediately preoccupied with protecting their plates from Luffy, gave her puzzled looks. Usopp asked curiously, "I thought the Log Pose wouldn't finish setting until later tonight?"

"It won't," Nami admitted, "But that's fine. I've got a better plan, anyway. There's an island near this one that has a treasure trove of rare jewels called Dreamshards. No one ever bothers to go there, so I think this is a great opportunity for _us_ instead!"

A few of the Straw Hats groaned, and Zoro scowled at her as he said, "What...trek all the way to this other island just so you can get a few rocks?"

"Don't insult Nami-san's brilliant scheming!" Sanji-kun snarled back, and the two glared at each other over the dinner table. Had dinner not conveniently been between the two, Nami was _sure_ Sanji-kun would have thrown himself headlong at their swordsman to begin one of their bouts; that was why she had chosen dinner as the best time for this little announcement.

Luffy was looking up curiously now, and managed to say through a mouthful of his (and judging from the irritated scowl, Franky's) dinners, "How come nobody goes there if there's treasure?"

Nami grinned; Luffy had perfectly segued the conversation to its next part. "That's the thing," she explained. "Nobody who goes there every comes back. Or most of them, anyway. But I don't think that'll stop us. If anybody tries it, Luffy, you can just knock them around a bit until they get the message that those Dreamshards are _mi_—I mean, ours."

Luffy looked enthusiastic now, but it was Usopp who spoke up next, while waving his arms wildly and then crossing them into an 'X.' "Are you _crazy_, Nami? If everyone who goes there never comes back, then if _we_ go there _we'll_ never come back either!"

"Not _everyone_ who goes there doesn't return," the navigator said defensively, arms crossed as she scowled across at Usopp. "If nobody ever returned, where would all these stories come from?"

"What stories?" Chopper asked curiously.

At the same time, Usopp—looking only _slightly_ more reassured than before—said timidly, "Oh...so, the people who came back are the ones who brought these Dreamshards with them? I...I guess it can't be _that_ bad, if they come back and get filthy rich..."

Nami was completely ready to go along with the story Usopp had unwittingly provided to her, since it would make it _much_ easier to convince the more fearful members of the crew, but before she could even nod her agreement she was interrupted.

"But that doesn't make sense," Franky said slowly. "I saw some of these Dreamshards Girlie's talking about today when I was looking for industrial-grade diamonds, but when I asked the shop owner he said they drift ashore, or fishermen find'em. He said nobody ever goes willingly hunting for them."

"Dammit, Franky!" Nami hissed in frustration, but her curse was drowned out by an enthusiastic laugh from Luffy, and the twin wails of Usopp and Chopper as they flailed about in a new bout of panic. It took several minutes to quiet them all down, requiring a few irritated kicks on the part of Sanji to shut them up 'while beautiful Nami-san explains her brilliant plan,' and ended with matching lumps on Luffy's and Usopp's skulls and Chopper firmly attached to Zoro's head.

"I think we'd better hear these stories," the swordsman managed to mutter around Chopper's fur, looking sorely put out after his attempts to dislodge the reindeer from his face failed miserably.

Nami sighed in exasperation, but the entire crew was leaning forward now in excited (and in some cases, fearful) anticipation, and even Luffy had momentarily stopped swiping food in favor of paying attention. So, grudgingly, she divulged what she had managed to gather from the shopkeepers.

"There isn't much to tell," she said slowly. "Like I said,_ most_ people who go there don't come back, according to all the people I talk to—but that could be for any number of factors, not because the island itself was the cause. This is the Grand Line after all. And people _do_ come back. They just...aren't in very good shape when they do." Frowning, Nami added with a look of slight confusion, "What I heard wasn't very clear. Supposedly the men who come back rant about nightmares stealing their dreams. And it sounds like they waste away not long after. The doctors on Adamantina have examined the people who return, and can't find anything physically wrong with them, so they just called it nightmare-death and leave it at that." She shrugged. "It's not like it affects us anyway. After Thriller Bark, I don't think _anything_ could be more nightmarish."

"This is _insane_, Nami!" Usopp countered—apparently he did think the stories were a big deal. "Look, even if you might be right, and the people who disappear could have just died in...in, I don't know, a storm or something—we still know something about that island is _dangerous_. Why else would people come back and have this...this...this nightmare sickness? We shouldn't go _near_ this place!"

Chopper looked nervous too. "I've never heard of anything like nightmare-death before," he offered timidly. "It's not in any of my medical books. I know some mental illnesses can be dangerous, and depression can be really problematic if it's not treated, but I've never heard of it coming on so strong all at once like this..."

"The ghost girl could do it," Zoro pointed out, his voice slightly muffled due to his head still being partly encased by the reindeer's fearful grip.

"But that was a devil fruit," Chopper said with a frown.

"And? We don't know what causes this thing at all," Zoro argued back. "It could be a devil fruit user, for all we know." Across the table, Sanji nodded reluctantly in agreement.

Nami had thought of that too, and she had to admit it made her more than a little nervous. Especially since, unlike Perona's Negative Hollows, the sickness the men gained from the island didn't seem to eventually wear off. From what she had gathered at the shops today, the doctors had never found a cure for this so-called dream-eating that the victims ranted about.

But she wasn't about to share_ that_ with the already terrified Usopp and Chopper, so she said instead, "Zoro's right, we don't know. But if it is a Devil Fruit user, I'm sure we can beat them. Usopp, you of all people should know. Didn't _you_ beat Perona at Thriller Bark?" Usopp blinked, looking caught between wanting to argue with her reasoning and wanting to brag about his amazing victory, and ended up saying nothing.

Nami moved on before he could recover. "And if it's anything else—a trick, or marines, or something—I'm sure we can beat _them_ too. Sanji-kun, you wouldn't let a simple trick or devil-fruit user keep me—I mean, us, from getting the treasure I—I mean, _we_, deserve, would you?"

"Of course not, Nami-san!" Sanji trilled enthusiastically. "Just point the way and I will happily reveal any schemes and put down any obstacles in your path all in the name of _love!_"

Zoro opened his mouth to crack some sort of insult, but Nami cut him off before he had the chance. "And you," she said, addressing the swordsman, "are you actually going to _refuse_ a potential fight, just because of a few scary stories?"

"Of course not!" Zoro said, scowling. The scowl transformed into a grimace of irritation as he realized he'd been baited, and Nami grinned triumphantly at what was essentially (to her) an agreement to go.

"Trust me," she continued, turning back to Usopp and Chopper, but her words were directed to the others as well: Luffy (not that she had to convince him), Robin, Franky, and Brook. "These Dreamshards are absolutely worth it. One little shard was worth _five times_ as much as a whole gold necklace studded with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. That's almost as much as Zoro's _bounty_. Think of how much money that means to us!" Well, mostly for her, but maybe if she was feeling generous she'd let them have a few of the smaller runty ones.

"We'd have enough money to keep the ship in repair without problems, and even have extra for additions and experimental modifications." She eyed Franky as she said this; he loved to play around with engineering and building, while she considered it a waste of materials if the experiment turned out to be a failure, and they'd had more than a few (perfectly reasonable) arguments over where to allocate funds for those ventures. The cyborg seemed to consider her words, looking thoughtful.

"There'd be plenty of money in the ship's funds to keep us well-stocked with food, too," she added, listing another practical benefit. "The Grand Line is getting more and more unpredictable now, so it'd always be good to have more storable supplies as backup—"

"And more _meat!_" Luffy interrupted enthusiastically.

"Yes, that too," Nami said with exasperation, but if it got Luffy even more interested than before, she was willing to put up with it. "Plus, if these Dreamshards come from this island, what's to say there aren't tons of other really amazing things hidden there? If nobody's been there in ages and survived to tell about, there could be other treasures hidden away there as well!"

"I am very curious about the island's history," Robin commented, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started. "From what I could gather from the local legends on _this_ island, it sounds as though Asteria once had a thriving culture, but it unexpectedly disappeared some time ago." From the traces of determination in her voice, it was clear she suspected that 'disappearance' was somehow linked to the Void Century, and she intended to investigate if she could.

"The thought of these nightmares frightens me," Brook admitted, "But I simply _must_ help you all find these Dreamshards if I can, since I have seen the brilliance of them in town today with my own eyes! Ah...even though I _have_ no eyes."

"Oh, _man_," Usopp whined. He looked first at Zoro (still with attached Chopper), then Sanji, Nami, Robin, Franky, and Brook, before nearly groaning, "We're going, aren't we?"

Almost as one, the entire crew turned to face Luffy. The Straw-Hat captain was grinning from ear to ear, and Nami gave herself a congratulatory pat on the back for doing such a fine job enticing their captain. Adventure, treasure, _and_ more meat? Luffy couldn't pass it up if he tried.

"Nami," he ordered, still grinning enthusiastically, "Set sail for this nightmare island! We're gonna steal these dream rocks from _them_ instead!"

She was so happy she didn't even bother to correct him, and so caught up in her own glee she could easily ignore Usopp's panicked wail, or Zoro's coughing grunt as Chopper clung more firmly to his head and cut off his airflow. They were officially on their way, and soon enough she would have a whole _pile_ of Dreamshards to call her own. She grinned smugly to herself as she began giving orders for setting off at first light in the morning, imagining the stunned looks on all of those jewelers' faces when she showed off the gems she'd already gathered in her imagination.

This trip would _definitely_ be worth the hassle.

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><p>Adamantina comes from 'adamantine,' a mythical unbreakable metal. Asteria Island's name comes from the term 'asteria,' a star-shape that appears in some gemstones.<p>

As always this fic is pretty much completely written but for the last chapter, so it will have regular updates. If you feel like leaving a review, please tell me what you think...what is good, what is bad, what you like, what you don't! I like hearing it all.

Hey **Gazer**...you owe me cake!

~VelkynKarma


	2. Asteria

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part two of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"Anyone who has spent a few nights in a tent during a storm can tell you: The world doesn't care all that much if you live or die."<br>~Anthony Doerr

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><p>They left the next morning, to Luffy's enthusiastic cheering and Zoro's complaining grumbles that it was <em>too damn early to deal with this shit<em>. They had spent most of the previous evening making sure they were well stocked for the journey. According to Nami's maps, it would only take about three days to get to Asteria Island, but on the Grand Line you never took chances; she had learned _that_ a while ago. Sanji-kun assured her their food stores were more than enough, and there was enough cola to fuel the ship and medicinal supplies for the injuries they would inevitably come across, so they were as ready as they would ever be.

They departed from Adamantina with no fuss, other than a few grudging complaints from her less-than-cooperative crew-mates. The Grand Line posed no problems for them, either; the water was calm all the way, the weather sunny and comfortably warm, and the wind constantly filled their sails. They even saw a pod of dolphins zipping by on the second day, which Nami chose to take as a symbol of good fortune. They always meant good luck in Bellemere's old sailor stories, after all.

Nami was beginning to think all the rumors about Asteria Island were a pack of old wives' tales—or more likely, vicious rumors spread by the jewelers of Adamantina in order to preserve their resource for extremely valuable gems. But just after breakfast on the third day, a crawling sensation that shivered right up her spine caused her to start rethinking those opinions.

She didn't know what caused the unsettling feeling, at first—until, dangerously fast, the storm hit them.

Much to her bewilderment, she hadn't sensed anything at all. She hadn't even known the storm was coming; it was Chopper, not her, that asked her confusedly if the scent he was smelling meant a big gale. There hadn't been any major changes in pressure, shifts in the wind, or tell-tale signs in the clouds, which disturbed Nami more than a little. And the storm came on unnaturally fast, too. It was only with Chopper's warning that they were even able to start preparing for it at all.

Then it hit, a raging mass of fury that they were all but swept into against their will. And it truly was _angry_. Nami usually didn't bother to attribute emotions to storms; they were frequently given humanistic characteristics in the books, but in real life she knew this wasn't the case. Storms were alive in their own way, but they were inherently natural, and completely emotionless, uncaring of whether or not they saved or destroyed the insignificant ships in their waters. They didn't have the ability to be joyful or angry or anything else. Storms just _were_.

But this one felt different. The winds whipped at their sails, viciously trying to rip the canvas free from the tight bindings that held it to the masts. The water bucked them furiously, and the enormous waves that crashed against their hull and the decks looked more like claws, trying to close their grasp around the _Sunny_ and capture it, drag it down to the depths. Forked lighting flashed over the water, so fast and so close it was as though the strikes were intentionally trying to blind them. Worst of all, over the roaring thunder and the crash of the waves against the deck, Nami could almost swear she heard a furious screaming, an enraged, hungry shriek that had nothing to do with the whistling of the wind past her ears.

At first, Nami thought she was imagining it all. She had been excited about reaching Asteria for days; her emotions had to just be running high. The thought was reinforced when, while fighting to keep the helm in check with Franky's help, she asked loudly over the sounds of the storm if he could hear the screaming. He'd given her a confused look, and hastily whipped his head around to see if any of the other crew members, scrambling wildly over the deck, had somehow been injured and were yelling for help. No one was, and he'd merely shrugged at her uncomfortably before helping her wrench the ship's course back on target.

But the longer the storm went on—it was unnaturally long, and was wearing on even Luffy's and Zoro's overpowered levels of endurance, exhausting them all—the more she began to realize that she wasn't imagining anything. This wasn't a normal storm. There was something about it, an extra malevolence inserted into its very being, that made it alive in an entirely different sense of the word. Almost, she would have been willing to believe that it was sentient, wanting to destroy them out of rage and hunger.

Or perhaps perform some other duty entirely. It took a lot of effort to keep on the specific course Nami had charted for the trip, but she noticed the storm's heaving waves were dragging them in the general direction of Asteria Island at an almost alarming rate. She didn't know if she ought to be relieved or terrified because of that.

_It can't be alive,_ she told herself firmly, as she shouted orders for Sanji-kun, Usopp and Brook to secure a few lines on the other side of the ship. _Storms aren't alive like_ that. _I'm just imagining things. I'm just tired, that's all. And that screaming is the wind. Just the wind._

The wild shrieking ceased rather abruptly after hours of being tossed about on the storm. It startled Nami so much she actually jerked her head up tiredly in surprise, looking around. She had almost grown accustomed to the unsettling noise, and it was strange to suddenly be confronted with the absence of it. Looking around, she realized the strange fury of the storm was gone, as well. The waves still tossed them about, but they were no longer claws; the wind blew furiously, but didn't seem strangely intent on ripping their ship apart.

"I think we're coming to the end, guys!" she offered encouragingly. "Just a little bit more, we're almost there!" Sanji-kun offered a tired but still heartfelt _mellorine_, and the rest of the crew grit their teeth with exhausted determination and kept struggling to keep their ship afloat.

And fifteen minutes later, the storm did dissipate, practically vanishing into thin air as though it had never existed. The crew stared in confusion and surprise as the sun once more returned, shining down on them brightly and cheerfully, already beginning to warm the seawater soaked decks.

"That...was _weird_," Usopp said slowly. He was still holding one of the lines in his hand, as though he'd just been about to perform whatever job Nami had ordered him to do. Several of the others nodded in agreement.

Nami frowned. Even the rest of the crew, lacking her expertise in weather patterns, could tell something about the storm was strange. That probably didn't bode well. _But there's nothing wrong_, she told herself firmly again. _They were just stories. There's nothing wrong!_

Franky excused himself quickly to do a once-over of the _Thousand Sunny_, bringing Usopp with him to help. With a storm that dangerous, he explained, any sort of damage was possible. The rest of the crew sat or flopped down tiredly on the decks, resting their weary bodies for a few moments until they could figure out what to do next. Even the normally energetic Luffy was flopped over one rail, arms hanging and tongue trailing as he whined repeatedly about being tired and, more importantly, _hungry._

Franky returned after forty-five minutes, just in time to catch the last of Sanji-kun's quick snacks (they had ridden the storm right through lunch, and the cook had wearily dragged himself off to the galley long enough to provide at least some measure of nourishment, even if it wasn't nearly as elaborate as his usual meals). The look he gave Nami wasn't good, however.

"We've got some hull damage," he reported slowly, looking almost pained. Nami couldn't blame him; it _was_ his dream ship, after all. "It's not too bad, it's just above the water line, but we'll need to be off the open sea for me to repair it. I hope that island of yours is close, sis, 'cause we're gonna be bailing a lot if it isn't. I've never seen a storm vicious enough to puncture _Adam Wood_ before, it's resistant to even cannonballs..." He looked a strange mix of bewildered and angry.

Nami bit her lip. Yet another reason to suspect that storm had been more than just a storm. Still, there was no time to hesitate now. Even if she felt like changing her mind (which was not the case; she still wanted those Dreamshards, and not even a malevolent storm was going to stop her), they now had no choice but to land on Asteria. The closest island besides it was Adamantina, and that was two and a half days away. It would be too risky to try and sail it with hull damage, however small.

She hastily rechecked her charts. It was hard to say how far they had come in the storm, but she still had the direction, and they would just have to make use of it. She gave sharp orders, and the crew, now rested, fed, and at least a _little_ more energetic and determined than before, set to work lowering sails, adjusting the rudder, and securing lines. Franky recruited two others, non-fruit users, to keep an eye on the hull breach and do any bailing if necessary, and slowly but surely they began to limp their way towards where Nami was sure the mysterious island resided.

Half an hour after their return to the course, Usopp (now up in the crow's nest due to having the sharpest eyes) called out about an island in the distance. Nami double-checked its direction with him—she had to make a few minor adjustments, but for the most part her educated guess had been entirely accurate—and, heartened, the crew worked with as much effort as they could to reach the speck of land in the distance quickly.

It was only an hour before dark when they finally reached the island. The sun was low on the horizon, shining a deep gold that made the ocean's surface shimmer like liquid fire. It was so beautiful that it was almost able to make them forget their troubles with the earlier storm, and several of the crew members—especially Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper—broke into enormous grins at the sight of it.

Nami couldn't help but smile as well, but she couldn't shake the memory of that strange screaming over the storm, or the chill that had run up her spine just before it hit them. And, while the enthusiasm of the youngest members of the crew was catching, Nami noticed a few others looked subdued, or wary. Robin's customary quiet smirk was there, but her eyes seemed distant; and Zoro's usual scowl was deepened considerably with what she knew by now was genuine alertness. Whatever it was that had been unnatural about that storm, it seemed that they, too, had noticed it in their own ways.

Shaking her head, Nami returned to the task at hand: finding a place to safely moor the _Thousand Sunny_ for the night. She gave more sharp orders and directions for the movement of the ship, and both she and Usopp kept their eyes peeled for a convenient cove or a safe place void of reefs and sandbars where they could bring the ship to a halt.

They proved luckier than they had even anticipated in that regard, however. Not ten minutes into the search, Usopp enthusiastically pointed out a small cove where several stone docks were built. They were definitely man-made constructions, and though the wooden posts that lanterns were mounted on had long since appeared to have rotted away, the stone docks themselves were still serviceable enough for their purposes. They would not only be able to moor the _Sunny_ here, but it would also be a convenient location for Franky to repair the ship's hull damage.

"Do you think there are people here?" Chopper asked, wide-eyed. "I thought this place was too scary for people!"

But Sanji-kun shook his head, and Robin said, "These docks are in disrepair. No human being has taken care of them for centuries, at the very least. You see, based on the construction there _were_ wooden posts here, but they were never replaced. And some of the stone work is crumbling along the left side as well." She pointed out the time-wrought damages as she explained, while Luffy enthusiastically leapt overboard onto the stone docks and secured the lines that Brook tossed him to a pile of old rubble.

"It's only an hour before dark," Nami said, as the rest of the crew gathered on the docks a few moments later. "We don't really have time to do any exploring over the whole island, but we can at least take a look around this area near our ship before the sun sets."

"We could explore at night!" Luffy offered enthusiastically. Usopp and Chopper shivered, but Luffy, at least, seemed to have already completely forgotten the tales of nightmares here on the island.

"I do not think that would be a good idea, Captain-san," Robin observed quietly. "It might be best to remain on the ship at night and explore during the day."

Luffy looked about to protest, but at Robin's solemn look he abandoned the attempt and merely shrugged instead. "Okay," was all he said, and then, "I'll race you to that village, Usopp!"

"_No one_ can beat the Great Captain Usopp in a foot race," the sniper retorted with a grin that nearly dripped with false overconfidence. "Are you really sure you want to challen—hey, Luffy, _wait!_ You can't start already, that's cheating!"

The two dashed off down the stone docks, and Chopper gave chase in Walk Point, his hooves skidding and slipping on the wet granite as he called after them. Nami shaded her eyes pointedly with one hand to block some of the low-lying sun glare until Sanji-kun enthusiastically stood at her side to offer her his own shade, wiggling delightedly when she didn't complain. That taken care of, the navigator glanced ahead of her captain and crew-mates to see just where they were rushing off to.

It was a village, as Luffy had said. It didn't look like too much; probably a small fishing village, once upon a time. Whatever it _had_ been, that was years ago. Nami could tell without even stepping foot on the little dirt-paved streets that the place hadn't been inhabited in at _least_ a century. The little stone huts were crumbling, and some had collapsed entirely. They had no roofs, since whatever material had been used to make them had long since rotted away. There was no evidence of any carts or wheel ruts or footprints in the packed dusty earth, and the village's structures were so overgrown with weeds, moss, and ivy that it was doubtful anyone had been there in a long time.

Nami started following the boys at a slower, safer pace on the slick stone dock, along with the rest of the crew (only Franky stayed behind, worriedly beginning to examine his beloved masterpiece once again for sake of repairs). Watching the three youngest crew members hit the first of the village streets, shouting enthusiastically and dancing around each other as they talked, only caused her to frown though. They were kicking up dust. _Dust_. It shouldn't be that dusty after a storm as monumental as the one they had struggled through. That meant the storm probably hadn't hit this island at all, and Nami wasn't entirely sure what to make of that.

Still, despite the feeling of growing dread in the pit of her stomach, they found nothing especially of interest while poking through the old village. The group spread out and explored each of the huts curiously, but other than a few broken bits of pottery, some old iron tools, and a few carved items that Robin told them were made from old bones, there was nothing particularly noteworthy. Nami didn't see a single tell-tale glint of one of those gorgeous Dreamshards, and there wasn't even any gold or silver to appease her in this little dump of a town. It only seemed to hold interest for their archaeologist, although that was understandable. So when Luffy and his cohorts eventually got bored and decided to move on, the rest of the crew followed, leaving Robin alone in the little village to study in peace and quiet.

Nami was beginning to think they wouldn't find anything of particular interest to keep their captain occupied, but she was soon proven wrong. They exited the village from the right and followed what had to have been a road at one point, though it was so overgrown now it was hard to tell. The former road led away from the cove they'd moored the_ Sunny_ in and down to the beach, which ran on for miles and was covered in white sand that felt pleasantly warm in the late afternoon. Nami pulled off her sandals and carried them in one hand (Sanji-kun tried to take them for her, but she was not letting him touch her shoes), and dug her toes into the sand as she kept an eye out for the tell-tale glint of Dreamshards. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper charged ahead, gleefully running up and down the beach while trying to entice Zoro and Brook into a game of tag (Brook accepted; Zoro adamantly refused).

The sun was getting lower now, and Nami was starting to feel a slight chill as darkness came closer. Sanji-kun offered her his suit jacket with the gentle admonishment that she ought not to let herself catch a cold. She accepted it absently and was just about to call out to the boys that they had better start heading back for the night, when she heard them give several enthusiastic cheers and go tearing off towards the interior of the island.

"Where the hell are you going?" she nearly shrieked. "Luffy, get_ back_ here! Usopp, Chopper, you ought to know better—no, Brook, not you too!" But they were already off, clambering over the enormous dunes that marked the beach's edge, and within seconds they were out of sight. Zoro was already following, looking exasperated and annoyed, but with his luck he'd probably miss them by mere feet and wander off into the heart of the island without ever realizing he'd passed them, directionally-challenged idiot that he was.

"Dammit...Sanji-kun, could you..." she began, but with a heartfelt yell of 'Right away, Nami-san!' he was already off, charging past Zoro (the swordsman sped up immediately, clearly considering this a challenge) and over the rise of the dunes. In moments they had disappeared as well.

Nami reached them a minute later, and began clambering over them herself. She could hear all the others, so they hadn't gotten far. Luffy was laughing, which in and of itself was not an indicator of safety, but she could hear Chopper's giggles and Usopp's gleeful shouting, which meant the situation was probably under control.

She broke the rise a second later, and couldn't help but drop her jaw in surprise. Due to the enormous dunes she hadn't been able to see what was inland at all, and it had never even crossed her mind to consider what type of season Asteria favored, but now it was all too obvious. It had to be a fall island, and it was _beautiful._ At the very edge of the beach, where the last grains of white sand transfered into dark soil, a forest began. The trees were all of varying kinds, sizes and shapes, but they all had one thing in common: each and every one of them positively burst with vibrant leaves of red, gold, orange, and yellow, so brilliant that even in the late-afternoon sunlight they almost seemed aflame. The forest went on for ages—Nami could see into it for quite some ways, but eventually the trunks and the ground blended into shadow, hiding its depths completely. And on the ground was a thick carpet of leaves, accumulated from what Nami was sure were years' worth of the trees shedding them over and over, creating enormous, dry crackling piles of color only slightly less vibrant in their dead states.

Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp had leapt into the largest pile of leaves they could find, and were now rolling around, throwing handfuls at each other, and generally having a grand old time of it. Brook was _yohoho_-ing enthusiastically as he used his great height and his cane to shake more leaves from the nearest tree down onto his companions, and Sanji and Zoro were watching bemusedly from the bottom of the dune, with one leg half-raised and one sword partly-drawn, as if they had abandoned the start of a duel without even realizing it.

"I don't understand," Nami said, bewildered. The breeze was stronger on the top of the dune, and she pulled Sanji-kun's jacket around her a little further absently, scooting down the dune a few more paces to let the mass of sand block the wind for her. "This doesn't make sense. This place is so..._pretty_. It's hardly a place of nightmares...I haven't seen a single bad thing here yet."

"Don't worry, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said, finally dropping his leg in favor of gravitating to her side once again. "If you do have nightmares you can just come to me, I'd be happy to take care of you!"

There was a soft _clink_ as Zoro sheathed his sword once again, but instead of taking the opportunity to bicker with Sanji-kun he said instead, "Don't drop your guard just because it looks nice. Don't forget that storm."

She grimaced. "As if I could," she said tiredly, but the truth was, it unnerved her far more than she was letting on. She hoped, at any rate.

Now it was really getting dark, with their shadows stretched out quite far to one side, and Nami decided it was _definitely_ time to go back. "Okay, come on, Luffy!" she called out, mild exasperation still in her voice, although she wasn't really mad at him. At least somebody was enjoying themselves, after all. "It's getting really dark. We can come back tomorrow after we look for my Dreamshards, but we shouldn't be out here any more tonight!"

_"Awww,"_ came a chorus of four voices, and Luffy gave her such a childlike pout she briefly felt like she was kicking a small puppy.

But it would do no good to back down now, so she growled more sternly, "_Today_, Luffy. Don't you want dinner? Sanji-kun, tell him we're having lots of meat."

"Yes, Nami-san!" the cook trilled, and then froze as he realized what he'd just been locked into. Well, it was his own fault for always agreeing to everything, anyway.

_"Meat?"_ Luffy asked enthusiastically. "What kind of meat? Will there be a lot of it? How long will it take? Sanji, I'm hungry _now_." The captain stood up in the leaves, his play momentarily forgotten in lieu of a promising carnivorous meal.

"Beef, yes, and it'll be ready when it's _ready_, you idiot," Sanji-kun growled back, a little sullenly now. "I'm not even on the ship, so where do you expect me to get dinner _here_, huh?"

"But I want—"

"Watch your back, Luffy!" Usopp said suddenly, grinning widely, to the surprised gasps of Chopper and Brook. "Usopp's super-secret surprise tackle attack!" And he cannoned into Luffy from behind so hard that the captain's signature straw hat went flying, sending them both bouncing into the leaves with a resounding crackly crash.

It resulted in an all-out wrestling match amongst the four of them, enough to make Nami wince. Brook's bony limbs creaked alarmingly as he entered the fray in the tossing leaves, and Luffy soon became entangled in all of them as his pulled limbs stretched and twisted around Chopper's horns and Usopp's bag. They laughed at the new game, seemingly forgetting the instructions that Nami had _just given them_, and with a disgusted sigh she ordered Sanji-kun into the fray to knock some sense into them. He complied enthusiastically, and soon there were five in the wrestling match, with the newcomer mercilessly handing out kicks to all parties.

Finally, with only a sliver of sunlight left, the play-fight ground to a halt. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook flopped, panting, on their backs in the leaf pile, and Sanji-kun stood over them nonchalantly, casually lighting a cigarette. "It's time to go, you idiots," he growled warningly. "Don't ignore Nami-san's orders, or else!"

"Okay, okay," Usopp said, looking a little put out that their play had come to an abrupt end, but hauling himself to his feet and starting towards the dunes all the same. Chopper and Brook followed under Sanji-kun's watchful eye. Luffy rolled to his feet quickly, heading a little farther towards the forest long enough to retrieve his hat from where it had fallen earlier.

There was a ear-bleeding, high-pitched hissing scream from within the shadowed depths of the brilliant forest. Nami had enough time to vaguely recognize it as similar to whatever she had heard during the storm, and then something enormous came barreling out of the forest's dark confines, straight at them.

Luffy was only a few feet from his hat, but turned with surprising speed as the whatever-it-was rushed straight at him, making a strange clicking noise. Nami couldn't see him very well in the dark, but she thought his eyes might have narrowed in determination, and one hand definitely drew back and curled into a fist as the thing came at him.

Whatever it was, it wasn't intimidated, and it didn't stop charging. Nami couldn't make any details about the creature, as it was moving too fast despite its enormous size. But something about it almost reminded her of the sea train back at Water Seven; the way it kept barreling forward without a care, like it planned to run Luffy over and keep on going, definitely resembled the sea fairing engine. But if it thought it could run Luffy over, then this creature had another thing coming.

They collided with a loud _thud_ that sent the pirate's braced feet skidding back over the leaves and dirt, and Luffy brought his curled fist slamming down onto the thing's back, or maybe its head; it was hard to tell, exactly. It shuddered and went belly-down to the leaves, and its momentum ground to a halt, while the unusual clicking noise seemed to slow. Nami felt the beginnings of a grin on her face. Not even unknown monsters such as this thing could pose a threat to their captain!

But then the creature let out another piercing, hissing shriek. Raising its body once more and clawing its way forward, it somehow seized Luffy in what Nami thought might be jaws and, with a jerk, lifted the pirate into the air.

Luffy acted only mildly puzzled, at first. The thing didn't appear to be hurting him, or at least not terribly badly. Nami didn't see any blood, at any rate, and she'd probably hit their captain harder than the creature was gripping him when he'd done something stupid in the past. His arms were caught in the creature's grasp, but Luffy had proven before that he didn't need his hands to beat something into a senseless pulp, so he was probably okay there, too.

But then, unexpectedly, Luffy twitched. His eyes widened—she could see the whites of them in the last sliver of sunlight, glinting oddly bright through the gloom. His whole body arched, unnaturally far because it was made of rubber, his mouth opened wide—and he screamed.

It was a long shriek, shockingly loud, desperately primal, as if it came from the depths of his very soul, and encased so much sheer pain and utter despair that it was actually terrifying. Nami had never heard a sound like that before, such pure, unchecked agony, in her entire life—and she had seen a lot of horrible things in her time. Worse still, she had never heard—or ever _expected_ to hear—such a sound come from _Luffy_. It was impossible. It couldn't be real. It just couldn't belong to him.

She found herself going rigid, and beside her Usopp, Chopper, and Brook had frozen as well. Even Sanji-kun, only a few paces from her, looked stunned, his one visible eye widened in sheer shock; and Zoro, some distance away, looked as though somebody had hit him over the head with a steel bar. Repeatedly.

Then the scream died, and underneath it she could hear a low, predatory hissing, originating from the creature that still had had Luffy in its grip. Something flashed brightly, blindingly so in the near-dark of early nightfall, causing spots to dance before Nami's eyes. It broke the stunned spell the scream had seemed to cast over her, and she brought one hand to her eyes, rubbing them hastily to try and clear her vision.

There was a shout, and somebody called loudly, _"Luffy!"_ Nami looked up in time to see their captain flopped like a rag-doll over the creature's head, unmoving and unresponsive to their cries. And then the creature released its grip, and Straw-Hat Luffy dropped to the brilliantly colored leaves with a dull, heavy _thud_, and did not move again.

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><p>Wait...that Luffy guy, he's not important to the story or anything, is he? Oh. Oh, crap. Umm...oops.<p>

As usual, if you leave a review, let me know what you think. What is done well and what isn't? Tell me politely and I am perfectly fine with compliments and constructive concrit both.

~VelkynKarma


	3. Nightmare

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part three of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note**: Sorry for the delayed post on this one! I got caught up in many things today.

**Imagery:** If you want to see an old sketch I did of the mysterious creature, follow this link:

http: / tinypic . com / r / 200sh9c / 7

Just delete the extra spaces. This is also linked in my profile if you prefer. (And forgive my less than adequate drawing skills)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"Ashes burning, you can smell it in the air,<br>Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal.  
>So stand in line while banging numbers in your head,<br>You're now a slave until the end of time  
>And nothing stops the madness turning,<br>haunting, yearning, pull the trigger!"  
>~<em>Nightmare, <em>Avenged Sevenfold

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><p>Unexpectedly, everything went still.<p>

Nami waited for Luffy to get up, for their captain to start laughing at what fun the fight was, or for that angry look to flit across his face as he resolved to thoroughly pound the offending creature. Luffy wouldn't be taken down so easily by something like this. Luffy was _Luffy_. He'd taken down half a dozen vicious opponents that were considered nigh on invincible; there was no way he would lose some sort of...of _thing_ that went bump in the night.

But he wasn't moving. He really, truly wasn't moving, wasn't trying to get up, wasn't making a sound. Nami couldn't even tell at this distance if he was still breathing or not. He was just still, reminiscent of a corpse, dull and drab-looking against the brilliant leaves he'd been dropped on.

The creature shuffled to regard them now, but it was still within the cast shadows of the trees, and too dark to make out most details easily. It hissed low, warningly, and Usopp let out a low whimper beside her at the noise. Then it stooped over Luffy, and Nami saw a glint of something in the fading sunlight that might have been fangs as it lowered its head towards their captain.

Zoro hit it like a freight train, smashing into its side with a wordless roar. The creature had been bending for their captain too fast, and even Zoro, the closest to Luffy's prone body, wouldn't have been able to draw his swords and slice it up fast enough to prevent its killing momentum. So he checked it bodily in the side with one shoulder instead, ramming the creature off balance and—more importantly—knocking its flashing jaws away from their vulnerable captain.

Sanji-kun was there seconds later. As Zoro settled back defensively, drawing his weapons and planting his body protectively over that of his captain's, Sanji-kun rushed past him and spun his momentum into a lethal kick. The creature had not been knocked very far by Zoro's defensive rush, but their cook had a lot more time to set up his shot and let fly, without having to worry about their captain being hurt. His foot connected with the creature solidly as he roared, _"Mouton Shot!"_

Nami recognized this as one of Sanji-kun's finishing moves, and fully expected to hear bones breaking and see blood spurting. Neither happened. What she had_ not_ expected was to hear Sanji-kun's surprised grunt of discomfort as he connected, or to see him crash to the leaves on his back a moment later, even if he did roll to his feet immediately and did not appear terribly injured.

The creature wasn't injured—she knew that somehow. But even if Sanji-kun's attack had no effect on it whatsoever, it was still apparently subjected to physics, and Sanji-kun's kick had a lot of force behind it. The creature emitted a surprised hiss as it was sent flying, and smashed into the ground several yards away, rolling until it hit one of the bright fall trees. The tree shuddered and, with an almighty crack, split in two from the blow, crashing to the ground over the monster.

"What the hell is going on?" Nami nearly shrieked. "What the hell _is_ that thing?"

"Don't know," Sanji-kun said, sounding grim, "but it's armored."

_"Armored?"_ Usopp asked from beside Nami, trembling. "How could you tell? Did you see it?"

"I felt it," Sanji-kun said. He was gritting his teeth around his cigarette, and stood braced next to Zoro, who had taken a few steps forward now to stand defensively in front of their captain. Both watched the fallen tree warily, waiting for signs of the...the whatever-it-was.

"Perhaps you killed it?" Brook offered tentatively after a moment. His bony hands were clasped around the lacquered handle of his cane, where Nami knew his sword was hidden, but if the creature was armored Nami didn't now how much use a sword would even be.

Sanji-kun opened his mouth to answer, but the broken trunk of the tree shifted then, and seconds later the creature underneath shoved it aside and rolled to its feet. Sanji-kun's kick had propelled it a little ways out of the forest and near one of the last patches of sunlight, and as they watched the _thing_ stepped into more visible light and hissed at them.

Nami found her throat clench unexpectedly tight with the sudden effort to keep from screaming. The thing was disgusting, hideous, unearthly...there was no other way to describe such a creature. Its head was that of an enormous panther or wildcat, but the rest of it resembled a positively massive spider. The panther-head was affixed to a bulbous, disgustingly hairy body, like that of a tarantula, and a whiplike tail with a bladed end, almost like that of a scorpion's, emerged from the very back of its bloated abdomen. The creature had eight legs; four resembled spindly spider legs, each ending in a sharp claw, while its very front two and back two legs looked more like warped, distorted cat appendages with far too many joints. Each of the twisted cat-legs ended in something vaguely reminiscent of a cat's paw, but with only two toes. And while the creature's face was clearly mostly that of a panther's, it had eight glittering, bulbous eyes, and two sets of twitching mandibles were set just behind the creature's more mammalian jaws.

It took Nami a second more to realize that one of those sets of mandibles was currently curled inside the creature's open mouth, and that there was something glittering inside it, though she couldn't make out what it was. The mandibles operated almost like a finger and thumb, carefully holding the glinting object in place with surprising delicacy.

It turned to face them, rotating its entire body as it did so, and its four pure-spider legs made the strange clicking noise Nami had heard earlier when it first attacked. The mandibles that weren't holding anything clacked together, a quick _tap-tap_ that Nami interpreted as considering.

_"Nightmare,"_ Chopper whispered in horror, and the stories flashed back into her head all too suddenly: stories of nightmares that had stolen the victims' dreams. This had to be what those survivors had meant. They hadn't meant night-terrors at all; they had been entirely literal about what they had encountered.

The Nightmare took a slow step forward, extending one long, disjointed catlike limb with such such grace it was startling. The movement seemed to break the spell for them all. Nami's hands flew to the straps that held her Clima-Tact in place on her leg, and although she could practically hear Usopp's trembling she could also hear his hand diving into his bag for his slingshot, and the rasp of Brook's sword as it started to draw free.

The Nightmare raised its head and shrieked, whipping its blade-like tail to and fro. She heard a momentarily whistle of wind, and unexpectedly felt like she'd been hit in the chest with one of Luffy's punches, or like she had been dropped into an icy lake. Raw terror, raging despair, pure dread, seized her heart like a vice and refused to let go. She had only felt like this a few times in her life, moments in battles or events so profound, so utterly beyond her control, that she was sure her life was over, her happiness at an end. Bellemere's death. Joining Arlong. When he'd cheated, taken all her money away. When Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger had chased her, gone for the final kill. When Eneru stood over her amidst the fallen, including her own friends. When Kuma demanded Luffy's head, and attacked them all when they refused. The feelings were so real, so strong, so primal, and she found herself freezing in place before she even realized what she was doing. Her fingers brushed the Clima-Tact's surface, but she was too scared to act, too afraid to make herself obvious to the creature, and maybe, just maybe, if she stayed still it wouldn't notice her, oh God _don't let it notice her—_

The others weren't moving either. The sounds beside her had stopped, and even Zoro and Sanji-kun had frozen, looking stunned but trembling in place regardless. Nami knew then, in some far corner of her mind, the part not overcome with raw, screaming panic, that this wasn't just her; that the creature, the Nightmare, had _done_ something to them, something to stun them with their own fear. But that little corner of her mind was too easily smothered by the screaming—_oh God, don't let it see me, don't let it notice me, I can hear screaming, I can hear sobbing, I can hear it all, you lose, you lose, you lose, don't let it do that to me, don't see me, don't see me, don't_ see _me_—and though she struggled valiantly to free herself, it was too hard to extricate herself from the pressures of sheer pain and despair.

Then the creature charged.

It rocketed forward, so fast, too fast, aiming straight for the prone Luffy and his two frozen guardians. Its maw opened wide, its free mandibles clacked hungrily over the _click-click_ of its many spider legs as it moved, and its blade tail whipped, ready to kill. Nami knew in that moment with absolute certainty that Zoro and Sanji-kun were going to die, and the thought only fueled her induced terror-driven state, sending up a low, mourning wail in her head as she watched the creature close in and did not—_could_ not—act.

There were still a few yards between the Nightmare and her crew-mates when Zoro broke out of his own stunned state, wrenching his body sideways violently, as though crawling out of a deep mire. He let out a rasping, shuddering breath, and then slapped Sanji-kun, still frozen beside him, with the flat of one sword. The cook stumbled sideways at the force of the blow, but it seemed to have the intended effect; with a curse Sanji-kun staggered back to his feet—he still looked pale, but in control again—and launched himself once more at the creature.

His kick was powerful, if somewhat shakier looking than usual, and yet it had no effect whatsoever. The Nightmare dug its claws deeply through the leaves into the loam and managed to swerve aside at the last minute, a feat of dexterous maneuvering probably only manageable because of the multitude of legs it possessed, and Sanji-kun hit the dirt without ever touching it. With a furious shriek, like that of a war-cry, it charged straight at Zoro and the motionless figure only a few feet behind him.

Zoro was equal to that, and as the creature shot forward, he met it head on, swords flashing.

All three blades flew true; Nami was no expert, but she had seen Zoro fight enough by now to know _that_ much, at least. And yet, much like Sanji-kun's first kick, the blades in his hands seemed to have no effect. _Armored_, Sanji-kun had reported grimly, and it looked like his assessment had been right on the ball. The two katana blades in Zoro's hands clacked off something that sounded like bone, though she knew it wasn't that. Zoro could cut through _steel_, for crying out loud, bone wouldn't be a problem at all. It was probably some sort of strange, unearthly chitin, based on its bug-like appearance...something resistant to even katana blades.

Or...perhaps only some katana blades, she thought, her confusion now fighting with the raw terror that still filled her mind. The two swords in Zoro's hands had been repelled easily, bouncing off the Nightmare's hide without causing so much as a scratch. But the one in his mouth, the white katana that he always seemed to favor, cleanly cut into and through the blade-tail as it rushed at Zoro's head, sending the stabbing appendage flying and leaving little more than a stump that oozed oily black smoke-like blood.

The creature _screamed_, and this time it wasn't meant to intimidate or spread its horrible terror; this time it was clearly in pain. It shrieked in agony and backpedaled on all eight legs, scrabbling away from Zoro as fast as it could, as though suddenly afraid it had found prey that could bite it back. Zoro took a step forward to continue the attack, but before he could so much as take a breath the Nightmare spun and, still screaming, thudded into the trees and vanished amongst the shadows.

As if by magic, the raging despair, the vibrant terror, vanished from Nami's mind as if it had never been. It was almost as though she couldn't even remember _why_ she had been afraid to begin with, and though she had faint remnants of fearful memories it had dragged out, they seemed far away, distant. All that was left was that feeling of icy cold, of breathlessness, as if she'd swam a mile in frigid water. She thudded to her knees on the side of the dune, confused, and dragged Sanji-kun's jacket closer around herself as she shivered.

"Y-you felt it t-too?" Usopp chattered beside her, and she turned to look at him mutely. He, too, had collapsed to the ground, and was still shaking hard, and breathing as if he'd run a mile. Behind him, Chopper was whimpering and pulling the brim of his hat down further over his eyes, as if to hide, and Brook had one skeletal hand clutched to the left side of his chest and looked too shocked to even make a damn skull joke about the fact that he had no heart.

"Y-yes," Nami stammered, and cursed herself for letting the creature affect her so badly. Now that it wasn't there anymore, it felt silly to be scared so badly when she couldn't even really remember what had caused it.

"I'm st-starting to understand those stories m-more," Usopp said. His shivering was slowing, and the edges of panic in his expression were receding, but he still looked afraid. "That thing was d-definitely a nightmare if I ever s-saw one..."

"Agreed," Nami said slowly, after taking a few breaths to try and calm her steadied nerves. She was about to say more, but right then the crunch of footsteps over dead leaves drew her attention, and she tuned in to a second conversation coming their way.

"—don't understand why you were able to hurt it, but I wasn't," Sanji-kun was saying, but he didn't sound argumentative; more contemplative and frustrated than anything else.

"Maybe you hit it in the wrong spot," Zoro offered. His voice was muffled, and as Nami looked up she noted he still had that white sword clenched in his teeth, and was walking in a careful sideways step to accompany the cook while keeping an eye on where the Nightmare had disappeared.

"That can't be it, I hit it right in the head, I think," Sanji-kun said. "Though it was kinda hard to tell in the dark...maybe it's like Luffy? Blunt force trauma won't hurt it, but cutting will?"

"Only one of my swords worked," Zoro said, with a quick shake of his head. He sounded both confused and angry by that. "You were right, it's definitely armored pretty good. Maybe the tail was just its weak spot."

"Dammit," Sanji-kun swore. "I _will_ find a way to kick that piece of shit's ass once...Chopper! Hey, Chopper! Snap out of it, you have to look at Luffy, _now!_"

Sanji-kun and Zoro had rejoined the group now, and now that they were closer Nami could make out more details through the early-evening gloom. Zoro was still facing back the way the creature had run, all three swords out and at the ready should the creature attack. That left Sanji-kun carrying a limp, huddled form in his arms. It was hard to tell in the dark, but the tip of Sanji-kun's fresh cigarette lit up his face enough to show his clear concern as he looked down at their captain.

And Nami could see why, after a moment. Luffy looked...wrong. Very wrong. He flopped bonelessly, head flopped backward over one of Sanji-kun's arms, his own arms dangling. His eyes were closed, and he was pale; far, far too pale, Nami could tell, even in the moon-lit dark. Nami had seen him in similar situations before, after fighting some of his tougher opponents, but he had always been seriously damaged then, covered in so many gashes and bruises it was almost acceptable to see him passed out cold for a few days, just because it made him _almost_ normal. But there was almost nothing wrong with Luffy this time. She could see a few minor puncture wounds, where the nightmare's mandibles or teeth had probably bitten into him when Luffy had been grabbed, but such tiny wounds were nothing compared to what Luffy went through on Skypiea, or at Enies Lobby, or Thriller Bark.

And he felt so..._lifeless_. That was, ultimately, what terrified her, when she looked at that prone body that Sanji-kun was now carefully laying on the leaves. Even when he'd been knocked out cold in the past, there was still some hint of _Luffy_ there while he slept; sleep-eating, or muttering nonsensical things, or even a tiny grin as he dreamed. But none of that was here now. It was as though Luffy was empty, or just..._gone._

Somehow, it was a very, very frighting prospect, to think of Luffy well and truly having vanished from their lives.

"I can't figure out what's wrong with him," Sanji-kun was saying, as Usopp nudged their still-shivering ship's doctor forward towards the body. There was a definite tone of anxiety in Sanji-kun's voice now, poorly masked, and even_ Zoro_ of all people looked concerned as he glanced over his shoulder back at the proceedings. _They_ were scared too, and that was almost as terrifying as the thought of Luffy disappearing.

Poor Chopper looked dazed, but set to work as best as he was able, examining Luffy's prone body quickly. "He's still breathing, and his heart's still beating," the reindeer announced slowly as he worked. "Everything seems to be in working order...he's got four puncture wounds, but that wouldn't be enough to do..._this_," Chopper added, looking anxious. "We'll need to bring him back to the ship so I can test for poison, though...that...that _thing_ might transfer something by bite. Luffy's not showing any symptoms of anything, but..."

Everyone sat in confused silence for a moment, staring at their unmoving captain. His chest rose and fell quietly as if in a deep sleep, and after a moment Brook reached out and almost tentatively shook one shoulder, as though trying to wake him. Luffy did not respond.

"Perfectly healthy," Usopp said slowly, "but they waste away anyway."

As one their gazes flashed to his face, and he looked ill as he glanced around at them all. "The stories," he elaborated, at their unspoken questions. "Back on Adamantina. The survivors, the ones that got back to their homes...they were perfectly healthy, and the doctors never found anything wrong with them, but they just wasted away and died..."

Nami bit her lip, and Chopper panicked. "It can't be nightmare sickness," he said anxiously. "It can't be! I've never heard of it before, I don't know how to cure it—" he froze, and clamped his little hooves over his mouth, looking terrified and ashamed.

"Pack up," Zoro ordered suddenly. "Let's move. Sanji, you got his hat, right?"

"Yeah," the cook answered, and Nami noted for the first time that the neck-cord of Luffy's hat was looped to Sanji-kun's belt, holding it in place.

"Give it to Usopp or something. We're going back to the ship. I'll go last. I don't know why only one of my swords worked, but if I'm the only one that can fight it at all, then I'm acting as rear guard." His tone left no room for debate. He was unofficially the first mate, though he'd never admit it himself, and with Luffy down it fell to him to protect the crew.

Surprisingly, Sanji-kun didn't argue, merely untied the straw hat from his belt and handed it off to Usopp. The sniper accepted it solemnly and carefully placed their captain's treasure on his own head, underneath his prized goggles, for safekeeping.

Chopper was still shaken, looking horrified with himself for being unable to heal Luffy. So Sanji-kun once more took up the burden of his captain and lifted him carefully, standing quickly.

"Allow me to go first, Sanji-san," Brook offered. "In case anything dangerous lies before us. If Zoro-san's sword is able to cut these Nightmares, than perhaps mine can as well." Sanji-kun nodded, accepting without argument—he knew, they _all_ knew, what an important burden he was currently carrying, and how important it was to defend it. So Brook took point, his cane sword out and at the ready, and Sanji-kun followed, with Luffy dangling limply in his arms.

"C'mon, Chopper," Nami said encouragingly, and reached down to take one of Chopper's hooves in her own. Normally the little reindeer would probably run to Zoro for comfort right about now, but as Zoro was currently preoccupied with keeping them all alive, there wasn't much of an option for that.

"I'm s-sorry, Nami," the doctor sniffled.

"What? What for?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I c-can't...I d-don't know how to f-fix Luffy," the reindeer whimpered. "I've n-never even _heard_ of n-nightmare sickness bef-fore...Luffy's going to d-die and it'll be all m-my fault..."

"Don't be silly," Nami said, forcing more cheer into her voice than she felt. "This is Luffy we're talking about. He doesn't just drop dead! You ought to know that by now. Besides," she added, "we don't know for sure what this nightmare sickness even_ is_. What if it really is poison?"

Chopper looked at her with a glimmer of hope amidst the confusion, and Usopp, sensing what she was getting at, hastily jumped in to help. "Yeah!" he encouraged. "I mean, nobody ever recorded what those Nightmares really _are_ before. They might call it 'nightmare sickness' over on Adamantina, but it's probably just that everybody got bitten and poisoned and didn't get an antidote. But you know how to treat poisons, right Chopper?"

The reindeer frowned. "I've never heard of a poison with these sorts of symptoms before, so I don't know an antidote for it yet..." He considered, and then added slowly, "but if you could catch one of those..._things_ for me, or get a sample of the poison, then I could examine it and form an antidote based off of that..."

"There you go," Nami said. "So, see, it's not as hopeless as you make it sound. We'll be able to fix Luffy up just fine, all thanks to you!"

Nami wasn't entirely sure she believed the words herself, but Chopper looked more encouraged, and even Usopp seemed to be working himself up into his own idea, as he did with dozens of his other lies. Hopefully it would be enough to get them through this, at least.

"We can discuss this later, on the ship," came Zoro's muffled voice. "_Move._ Now." The swordsman was behind the three of them, and gestured them forward with the two katana in his hands. With a start, Nami realized just how far ahead Brook and Sanji-kun had gotten, and hastily ran to catch up along with Usopp and Chopper. Zoro brought up the rear, swords at the ready and constantly on the alert.

But they passed back down onto the beach without any incident, and despite jumping at shadows and creaking noises in the old fishing village, they encountered no further Nightmares there, either. Robin, it appeared, had already headed back to the ship, so they headed down to the stone docks and the _Thousand Sunny_, which seemed blissfully warm and welcoming through the cold, empty gloom.

Franky greeted them with an enthusiastic "_Ow!_" and accompanying dance, claiming he had good news, but froze in mid-step when he caught sight of their unconscious captain. "What happened, sis?" he asked Nami, bewildered, as Chopper had Sanji-kun rush Luffy to the infirmary for a more thorough inspection. Robin approached quietly from behind, eyes widening slightly as she caught sight of Luffy's condition, and awaited Nami's explanation with a frown.

"It's a long story," Nami said shakily, and slowly began to tell them what happened, with some help from Usopp. Sanji-kun emerged halfway through the story and vanished into the galley, probably to brood over what had just happened while he cooked dinner. And Zoro paced restlessly back and forth across the decks, constantly keeping an eye out on the village in the shadows, as though expecting another attack.

Dinner, an hour later, was a subdued affair. Sanji-kun had made less than usual, mostly because of Luffy's absence (Nami winced at the thought), but also because he had probably picked up on the mood of the ship. Nami didn't feel especially hungry tonight, and judging by everyone else's faces and the way they picked at their plates, nobody else did, either. Zoro hadn't even bothered to come in for the meal; he was still pacing outside on his self-appointed watch. It wasn't that Sanji-kun's food was anything less than perfect, as usual. It was just that the night's events seemed to have taken over their minds and killed their appetites. Nami kept remembering enticing Luffy to return to the ship for dinner, only to have that memory overlaid with Luffy's heart-wrenching scream, or the way the Nightmare had frozen her with terror, or the way Zoro's and Sanji-kun's attacks against it had been all but useless.

Finally she sighed, put down her fork, and said with the air of one desperate for some sort of distraction, "You said you had good news earlier, Franky. What was it?"

"Eh? Oh...right, sis," the cyborg said, and noticeably tried to make himself more optimistic as he explained, "I was able to take a look at the hull damage again. It's not as bad as I first thought. I didn't have time to start fixing it today since there wasn't much sunlight left, but I should be able to have it all patched up tomorrow. We'll be ship-shape again by noon."

"That's a relief," Nami said tiredly. "We'll be able to escape at least, if we have to."

"And if we don't hit that storm again," Usopp said pessimistically, voicing what Nami, at least, had been thinking. The scream the creature made today had been far too similar to the shrieking she had heard in the storm; there had to be a connection there, somewhere.

"But we can't leave without trying to get that poison sample, first," Chopper argued. "I can't help Luffy without it." His lower lip trembled, but he seemed more determined than he had earlier. His re-examination of their captain, this time with the aid of his tools, had turned up the same results as before: other than four minor puncture wounds, Luffy was a picture of health, other than the fact that he wasn't waking up.

"There might be clues in the other villages, as well," Robin offered. The others stared at her in confusion, and she added, "In the fishing village, I found a building that was probably once a small chapel. There was writing on the stone walls inside, in the same script that inscribes the poneglyphs. They were not well preserved, and most of it was difficult to read, but it seems the villagers were familiar with 'Nightmares' as well. The writings also mentioned something known as the Temple of Dreams, located in a city somewhere on this island, from what I could gather." She shrugged. "If the ancient inhabitants of Asteria were familiar with these creatures, and the dualities of nightmares and dreams, they may have known a cure for the illness these nightmares cause."

"Then what do we do?" Usopp asked, anxiously. "We don't even know how to fight those things. As far was we know, Zoro got lucky when he managed to slice that one at all. Are we supposed to just bait one out and hope we get lucky enough for it to not do whatever it did to Luffy, to us too? Ask it if it'll leave us alone long enough to go to these other towns?" There was a note of hysteria at the end of his voice.

Nami slammed her hand down on the table, and several of her fellow crew members jumped. "There's nothing at all we can do tonight," she said quietly. "For now, all we can do is set a double-watch to make sure we're one step ahead of those things and they don't get on our ship. Tomorrow, when it's light out, Franky will stay here to fix the _Sunny_ in case we need to make a quick getaway, and the rest of us will go look for one of these other villages to see if Robin can decipher a cure."

"Sunlight might be helpful," Brook offered brightly. "Perhaps these Nightmares are like the shadow-zombies on Thriller Bark, and dislike the sun. It did not attack any of us until just before the sun finished setting, after all."

Sanji-kun nodded in agreement. "It stayed in the shadows when it could, too," he agreed. "It's worth a shot."

"Right," Nami agreed. "And if one _does_ attack, we have a little more warning this time. We know Zoro, at least, can cut one, and they don't seem to like it when their prey fights back. We might be able to scare _them_ off instead, or even get a venom sample." She hastily cut off the _if it even is poison_ after a quick glance at Chopper; no point in crushing his hopes when they had no conclusive answers either way, after all.

"Alright," Nami concluded. "Are we all clear on the plan?" As one, they nodded, each and every one of them looking grim but determined. No matter what, they would _not_ let these things beat them, and they would _not_ let these monsters take their captain from them.

"Good. Then rest up, because we're probably going to be doing a lot of running and fighting tomorrow," she finished.

"Eat up too," Sanji-kun added, gesturing at his meal more insistently than before the conversation had started. "We'll need our strength." Everyone dug back into their meals, with noticeably more appetite than before, now that they had a plan. Nami especially found herself finishing up her meal quickly, before excusing herself (she refused the seconds Sanji-kun offered politely) and heading out to find Zoro on deck to explain the new plan.

It didn't really matter that she wasn't going to bed right away, like she'd lectured everyone else on doing. She knew she wasn't going to be getting any rest tonight, anyway. Nightmares of an entirely different kind would certainly see to that.

* * *

><p>The next morning, everyone was up before the sun even started to rise. Nami didn't find this particularly surprising. While her crew could quite often be lazy and thoroughly useless, each and every one of them knew the significance of their daylight hours while on this island, and nobody wanted to waste any more time than they had to. Especially when their captain's life was potentially at stake. Luffy wouldn't hesitate to do anything to save one of them, and they were just as willing to return the favor. And besides, the fact that none of them had rested well to begin with probably helped.<p>

So it was that Sanji-kun was up even earlier than usual, well before the crack of dawn, preparing a simple early breakfast as well as packing food supplies for their excursion onto the island that day. Franky had set about bringing all his supplies up onto the deck and setting them in place, waiting only for the sun to rise a little so that he could see what he was doing, and Usopp eagerly helped him prepare after rechecking his own artillery. Nami spent her pre-dawn hours trying to plan out a route on the island with the map she'd stolen, but that proved almost useless; the map offered a general shape of the island, but little about what actually resided on it. She gave up and eventually resigned herself to helping Robin pack a few other emergency supplies alongside Sanji-kun's food rations. Even Zoro was up early, resuming his self-appointed guardianship duties by keeping a wary eye on the island while the rest of them worked. Nami wasn't sure how much good it would do, but it was strangely reassuring to know somebody was watching their backs all the same.

All of them visited Luffy as well, but unfortunately there hadn't been much change there, either. Chopper had spent the night in the infirmary, curled up in Brain Point next to their captain to keep an eye on his progress, but there hadn't been any...good _or_ bad. Luffy did not get worse, or develop any of the classic symptoms of poison: fever, convulsions, deteriorating tissue, and a dozen other nasty side-effects of venom injection were thankfully absent. But he didn't get better either. He just remained pale as death and looked for all the world as though he were asleep, yet never woke up no matter how much he was called or shaken.

Nami knew they had plenty to be thankful for...the fact that Luffy wasn't dying of poison too fast for them to stop was relieving. And yet, she almost wished that there was some evidence of a physical attack, a struggle against death, as she watched Luffy's blank face during one of her visits. If it was a fight, Luffy could win it; of that she was sure. Luffy lived through all the other fights. He could live through _any_ battle, internal or not. But seeing him so still, so pale, so..._empty_...it was more disturbing than she cared to admit. Because if there wasn't a battle, then maybe Luffy really _could_ die from this, whatever _this_ was.

_No,_ she told herself firmly. _No, we're not going to let that happen. We'll go find that...that Nightmare thing...and Zoro will slice it up like he did the first time. We'll collect the venom_—please _let it be venom—and Chopper will fix up an antidote, and within a day Luffy will be driving us all crazy with his stupid ideas and his demands for meat and everything else again._ Yeah. Yeah, it would happen just like that. Gritting her teeth and sincerely hoping she wasn't fooling herself, she gave Luffy's rubbery hand a quick squeeze and left the infirmary to meet with the others on deck.

Everyone was assembling now for the final preparations. The packs that Sanji-kun and Robin had assembled were all lying in a small pile now, awaiting distribution. The rest of the crew was standing in an anxious circle, subdued but determined. Their captain was in danger, but they had a plan to try and fix it, and that was all that mattered. Even Usopp, though obviously terrified of the Nightmares, had his fist clenched in readiness around the handle of his Kabuto slingshot and looked fully prepared to use it.

Luffy had that effect on people, Nami thought with a wan smile. Even when he was dying.

"Okay," she addressed them, stooping to pick up one of the packs as she did so. "I think we've got enough sunlight to start moving by safely. Remember these things are dangerous, so don't try to fight one on your own...just lead it to Zoro if you can so he can cut it. We need to kill one so we can let Chopper study it and figure out how to help Luffy."

They nodded in agreement, and Zoro, Sanji-kun, Robin and Usopp all stooped to pick up their own packs. Franky cracked his enormous knuckles and growled low in his throat.

"I wish I could go with you guys," he said with a sigh. "They might be armored, but so am I. I'd love to see'em try to take me down."

"You have your own job, Franky," Nami said, as she started assembling her Clima-Tact. She had learned from last night that it was better to have it at the ready at all times. "It's just as important."

"I know, I know," he said. "I got it, sis, don't worry about it. _Sunny_'ll be ready to go by the time you get back, I promise. It should be no problem...I'm feeling especially productive this week."

"I'm going to stay here, too," Chopper added. Nami stared at him in surprise, as did a few others, and the reindeer went on to explain quickly. "I've been thinking about it," he said slowly, "and we really can't take Luffy with us. I mean, he hasn't woken up at all...what if one of those things hurts him more? It tried to...to _eat_ him last night, or something, after it did...whatever it did to him to poison him." Sanji-kun grimaced around his cigarette, Zoro glowered, and Usopp frowned.

"But," continued Chopper, quicker now, "we still don't know what's wrong with Luffy, and I don't think I should leave him at a time like this. What if he needs medical aid? We have to leave Luffy behind safe on the _Thousand Sunny,_ so I need to stay with him."

"That's fine, Chopper," Nami said. "It makes sense. Besides, if those things attack, Franky's probably going to need backup. It'll be safer to stay in groups as long as we're dealing with these Nightmares."

"In that case," Brook said delicately, "allow me to stay behind, as well." The crews' stares turned to the skeleton, and he drew his sword in a quick flourish, allowing it to flash in the morning sunlight. "The same argument that I offered to Sanji-san last night still stands," the musician said. "Zoro-san's sword was able to cut the creature when no other attack worked. Perhaps my sword will be of use as well. If that is so, I will gladly offer it in order to protect my captain and crew!" For once, his sentence was devoid of a single skull joke, which only succeeded in emphasizing just how solemn the moment was for all of them.

"Fine," Zoro said shortly. He was fingering one of his katana now, the white one, and he looked impatient. "Franky, Chopper, and Brook stay behind to guard Luffy and fix the ship. The rest of us go find those things and kill'em. Let's move."

Usopp looked anxious. "Are we really sure it's a good idea to split up like this?" he asked, eyeing the fishing village in the distance warily. "That thing was really strong. What if it takes all of us to beat one?"

"In a battle, it might take all of us," Robin observed, as she settled her pack more comfortably on her shoulders, "but a smaller group is more advantageous for avoiding an encounter with the creatures at all. With all of us we would most assuredly attract these Nightmares' attention. With a smaller group we stand more of a chance of not being noticed."

Usopp still did not look entirely convinced, but the rest of what Nami had dubbed as the Recovery Team was already moving for the railings and jumping down onto the slippery stone docks. The sniper swallowed, glanced in the direction of the infirmary, and then grit his teeth in determination. "Right, then," he said with a nod. "Let's find these nightmares and teach them not to mess with _our_ dreams!"

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><p>I would say something witty here, but I'm really not, so I won't.<p>

As usual, if you decide to leave a review, let me know your honest opinion! What is good, what is bad, what parts did you like, what could be improved?

~VelkynKarma


	4. Stories

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part four of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Damn, guys. This fic is beating even _Mindshattered_ in terms of reviews ratios which I didn't actually think was possible. Why the hell do you guys like me so much? I don't understand!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"You know, if you believe the dreams,<br>the nightly visions, worlds entwined,  
>then you also fear your shadow<br>paranoia, part two...

All the good things in my life dwell in my mind  
>Took a wrong lane, every day, I hear myself say,<br>Sickening's this feeling  
>My life<br>My hopes  
>My dream's but a drop of fuel for a nightmare."<br>~_My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare_, Sonata Arctica

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><p>Figuring out which direction to head in for the start of their explorations was difficult. Nami already knew, after studying the map of Asteria for hours, that she had virtually no idea of where anything was located on this island, other than what few landmarks she had already seen. It meant their exploration would be haphazard at best, and Nami knew just how dangerous it could be to start wandering without a direction or some form of a goal, especially with at least one vicious predator out there with unknown whereabouts.<p>

Zoro was all in favor of heading back to where they had first seen the creature and crashing after it through the brush until they caught and killed it. Nami put down the idea immediately with a sharp right hook to his head. While the creature was so large it would be fairly easy to track through the swathe of dead leaves and broken branches it would inevitably leave, the idea was that they _didn't_ want to run into it by accident. They needed to find a Nightmare on their own terms, with a plan in mind to disable or kill it, and that was only if they couldn't discover some form of cure in the writings left behind by the ancient human inhabitants. With their luck, following the Nightmare's trail would lead it straight back to its den or nest or whatever the hell it lived in, where a dozen others were probably waiting to feed. Nami would have none of it.

Thankfully, Robin was able to provide them with another suggestion. While exploring the fishing village yesterday, she had discovered a pair of roads at the far end of the village, leading into the heart of the island. One led north-west, while the other headed north-east, and while both were covered in dead foliage and looked to be in severe disrepair, they were still recognizable as what used to be major roadways. After some consideration, Nami, as their navigator, chose the north-western path. The one that led in a more easterly direction also seemed to head towards where they had seen the Nightmare last, and once again, Nami wasn't willing to meet up with that thing just yet.

They walked along the road for several hours, with each and every member of the team on full alert. The old path led into the red-gold woods after only twenty minutes, after passing overgrown, rocky patches of land that Robin said were probably once a few meager farming fields, enough to provide the village with a little grain to get by. The brilliant trees swallowed up the fields and the travelers quickly, and while Nami had thought them gorgeous yesterday she found them foreboding now. The branches and leaves were thick and solid, allowing only patches of bright sunlight to trickle down onto the road as they walked along it. The rest of the spaces beneath the trees were filled with cool shadows that were a little too dark for Nami's tastes. No one said it out loud, but the way the tension practically thickened in the air between them, she knew everyone was worried about the mid-day darkness. For all their talk of searching in the sunlight, their forethought had apparently turned out to be useless. The darkness cast by the trees would still provide more than enough cover for a Nightmare, should it choose to attack.

But though they remained on constant alert, though Zoro insisted on walking ahead of the rest of them and kept his hands on the hilt of one sword always, though Sanji-kun insisted on walking next to herself and Robin for their protection, and though Usopp flinched and spun around every time the wind rustled the trees, they encountered nothing during their walk on the road. Sanji-kun announced it was lunchtime many hours after they had started their journey, but nobody wanted to stop just yet on the road, even with their stomachs rumbling and their feet throbbing, and Sanji-kun didn't insist on them taking a break for a meal like he usually did (although he did offer with his usual enthusiasm to carry Nami or Robin if they were getting tired. They refused). All of them felt it clearly: with the trees pressing in all around the worn-down road, it felt far too exposed for a stopping point. They agreed unanimously to keep moving onward, and Sanji-kun merely passed around a few canteens of water to keep their spirits up.

Just under an hour after Sanji-kun's lunchtime announcement, the trees along the road seemed to pull back a little more, and more pools of sunlight were allowed to pass through the thick branches and their leaves to the ground. Usopp, with the strongest eyesight amongst them, pointed down the road and announced with the same excited tone usually reserved for spotting land after days at sea, "Look, look, up ahead! There's a village!"

"You're sure?" Nami asked. Usopp wrenched down one of the magnifying eyepieces on his headgear and adjusted it carefully before nodding vigorously, and Nami let out an enthusiastic whoop. "Yes! A new village already! And not a single meeting with that_ thing_ again, either."

"Don't say things like that!" Usopp scowled back at her, pushing the eyepiece back up onto his head. "You'll jinx us!" He looked back and forth at the trees anxiously, now trying to peer into their depths, as if expecting the Nightmare to be patiently waiting for them on either side.

"Perhaps," Robin agreed quietly. "I have often read in legends that mentioning deadly foes and beasts of lore is exactly the way to summon them." The rest of the team gave her horrified looks, and she added almost conversationally, "Then again, I have also read that it is equally possible to scare away their attention if one possesses the right abilities or charms. Swordsman-san scared the creature away last night. Perhaps it is still frightened of him and will not attack us."

"You think?" Usopp asked hopefully, and inched a few paces closer to their swordsman. "Keep it up then, Zoro! Just keep scowling and being scary and keeping them away, you're doing a great job!" Zoro merely grunted in reply and continued to scan the forest around them, although Nami severely doubted that he was trying to keep the Nightmare away, so much as trying to keep an eye out so it didn't get the jump on them.

They picked up the pace and made it to the village in record time, and nearly everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped onto the first of the village streets. A few of the brilliant trees still grew here and there, and they had obviously crept closer to the outskirts of the little empty community without anybody to cut them back in the past centuries, but for the most part the village remained open to the sky. Early afternoon sunlight flooded the streets and the insides of the buildings through old rotted-out windows, and its warmth was comforting and relaxing on Nami's face. She could practically feel the vast majority of the tension in their small hunting team dissipate as they wandered the streets.

Robin was now in the lead as they searched for some sort of clue about Luffy's condition. The village was in such disrepair that Nami, Usopp, Sanji-kun and Zoro could make very little sense of the purposes for the buildings or the layouts of the streets, but to Robin it all seemed to be an open book, easy to decipher. Based on its location soundly in the middle of the forest, Robin estimated it had once been a hunting village, and after spotting a number of other broken-down roads leading into the place she guessed it was probably a stopover for people traveling across the island to trade or sell goods. It was definitely much larger than the fishing village, and had a sizable marketplace, or what Nami assumed was once a marketplace at any rate.

The others left the decoding and the searching to Robin (though Sanji-kun offered his assistance at least thirty times). Their archeologist would know what to look for better than any of them, after all. Nami and Usopp helped by pointing out things they thought might be useful, on the rare occasion that Robin didn't spot them, but the navigator also kept a passive eye out for Dreamshards as well. She hadn't thought about them much last night or that morning, after Luffy had been attacked and mysteriously made ill, but after Robin had mentioned this village was probably a mecca for trade it had made her think of all the wealth this place had probably accrued, and that reminded her of the gems.

Maybe it was a bit greedy of her to consider them at a time like this—Luffy was very sick, after all, and could be dying, and thinking of the jewels made her feel the tiniest bit guilty. But it _was_ the reason they had come to Asteria in the first place after all, and Luffy would be extraordinarily disappointed with them if they didn't even have the adventure they'd set out for in the first place, or find the treasure they'd been hoping to come across. They were already out here searching for a cure for him anyway; there couldn't be any harm in picking up some old discarded gemstones worth a veritable _fortune_ if they happened to be along the same path, right?

But she didn't see a hint of the valuable Dreamshards anywhere, or any other form of treasure, either. Whatever the reason was for the people disappearing from this island, one thing was definitely certain: they'd packed up everything of value and beat it out of there as quick as they could. The thought was a little disconcerting. What on earth could possibly make people disappear so completely? She had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that it had something to do with the Nightmares, and that bad feeling only increased with Robin announced with quiet confusion some time later that there wasn't a hint of a body in the village, either.

"No bones, no fossilized remains, no clothing," the archeologist said, a puzzled look on her face. "It is most unusual. The fishing village we first found was much the same way. Even the small burial ground there had been dug up ages ago, and nothing at all remained." Which was definitely creepy as hell, and not something Nami particularly wanted to dwell on.

At last, however, Robin seemed to find what she was looking for. She led the way with unerring sureness to a large building at one end of the village, as close as it could get to what Nami was sure was the center of the island without actually leaving the village's confines. Robin explained that, based on what was left of the architecture, the building was probably a chapel or temple similar to the one she had found back in the first village.

"The Nightmares were mentioned in the first chapel as well," she said calmly. "From what I have observed so far, the religious and cultural beliefs on this island revolved strongly around the concept of dreams. If we are to find any information at all about these creatures, it will be in here."

The building was quite large, enough to accommodate at least half of the families that had probably lived in the village long ago. Despite its size it was surprisingly simple on the inside, and possessed only three rooms: a large main chamber, probably a gathering hall for the villagers, and two smaller rooms at the back, which Robin said were likely for the storage of religious or cultural items or lodgings for whoever cared for the building.

They explored the back rooms briefly, but the wooden furniture inside had long since rotted away and nothing else of interest remained in them, so they returned to the main hall. Here, Sanji-kun set out a quick late lunch with the supplies from their packs. They sat around perched carefully on pieces of broken-down stonework and old rubble that Robin deemed acceptable as seats, munching carefully in the relative safety of the temple. Zoro wolfed down his meal in six bites and moved back to the temple's only entrance and exit, sitting down squarely in the middle of it on a piece of rock he dragged over himself; he could still overhear the conversations of the rest of the crew, but no Nightmare would be getting through to them without getting past him first.

Robin finished her meal quickly as well before heading with brisk determination and obvious interest to the raised platform at one end of the gathering hall. There was a stone table on it, weathered looking and cracked in some places, but still sturdy overall. The table, as well as the wall behind it, were covered in strange figures and shapes that Nami could make heads nor tails of, but Robin's eyes flew over them with remarkable speed as she traced the carved shapes carefully with her fingers.

Ten minutes passed, fifteen, twenty, and Usopp finally asked while fidgeting uncomfortably, "Well, what does it say? Is there a cure?"

"Don't interrupt Robin-chan when she's busy!" Sanji-kun snarled at him with his usual love-sick venom, but there was a trace of anxiety in his voice too that usually wasn't present. So Sanji-kun was worried, too.

Usopp opened his mouth to argue back defensively, and Sanji-kun stomped on the ground in irritation before raising a leg for a spectacular kick. But before either could make a further sound Robin raised her arm and said softly, "If you would please calm down and be silent, it would be much appreciated. It is difficult to concentrate like this." Usopp's mouth closed with a stunned snap, and Sanji-kun lowered his leg slowly and carefully with a blink of surprise. Nami was shocked, too. Robin was_ always_ able to concentrate on her books throughout the loudest fights and arguments of Zoro's and Sanji-kun's, or through Luffy's, Usopp's and Chopper's wild antics on the decks of the _Sunny_, or through the enthusiastic screeching of Brook's violin when he played something exotic and not at all welcome. If she actually had to request silence, then whatever was on that wall was probably both challenging _and_ relevant. Nami suppressed a pang of excitement and fear forcibly and set back to wait.

And wait they did, for another half hour, as Robin studied the broken stone in silence. And it really _was_ silence, Nami noted, after the first ten minutes; _pure_ silence, something almost foreign to her ever since she joined the Straw Hat crew. There was no noise at all. Inside the temple, the faint breeze that they'd felt for most of the day was blocked by the stone and couldn't be heard, and there was no chirping of birds, chattering of squirrels or chipmunks, or buzzing of insects. It was like the island was completely deserted, other than the beautiful red-gold forest, the terrifying Nightmare, and the crew of the Straw-Hat pirates. The silence abated somewhat when Robin summoned a few extra hands to draw a notebook, quill and inkwell out of her pack, and for a while the rustle of canvas and the _scritch-scratch_ of quill on parchment was a comfort to keep the emptiness of the island at bay.

It was a good thing Luffy _wasn't_ here, Nami thought with a sigh, after another fifteen minutes of anxious waiting passed, and the team sat around in varying states of boredom and anxiety. Their captain would be chomping at the bit to go find some sort of meat, monster, or new friend by now; he never had been good at waiting. But thinking of Luffy reminded her of why they were here again, and the condition of their captain, with his too-pale skin and the lifelessness in his body. Then Nami wished he suddenly _was_ here, because it would mean all their problems were gone.

It was a very sobering thought.

At last Robin stepped back with a sigh and a quick shake of her head before returning to the rest of the team. Sanji-kun looked up at her with adoration as she returned and carefully stubbed out his sixth cigarette since they'd found the place, placing the butt with the rest of their swept-up trash so as not to abuse the ruins; they all knew how much Robin loathed that. Nami and Usopp watched her curiously, waiting, and even Zoro turned around at his chosen post long enough to raise an eyebrow, as though asking, _well?_

Robin sat down carefully in their small circle on a piece of rubble, and launched into her explanations without further waiting. "The scripts here are in poor repair, just as they were in the fishing village," she began. "Many of the characters have been partially or even completely obliterated. In addition, what does remain uses a curious dialect, which took more time than anticipated to translate. But I believe there is enough left here to work with."

"So what'd you find out?" Usopp asked, repeating his earlier question. "Is there a cure?"

"The recordings here say nothing at all about a cure," Robin said, and her usually calm expression betrayed the tiniest hint of frustration, only evident to those that knew her well. It was perfectly visible to every single one of them, which made them all uncomfortable. And what she had said...

"There's no cure at all?" Usopp yelped, looking anxious. "Is Luffy really gonna die of some Nightmare disease?"

Robin shook her head sharply. "I said _these_ recordings say nothing about a cure," she said, with the delicate emphasis of someone accustomed to word games. "The information here neither supports nor denies the possibility of a solution to a Nightmare's attack. It barely mentions a victim of such an attack at all."

"So what does it say?" Zoro said grumpily from the door.

"Stories," Robin answered slowly, "Most of a similar vein to what Nami shared with us back on Adamantina, but there are a few minor differences. Or perhaps not so minor." She consulted the notebook, where she had scribbled a number of observations and translations in her neat, precise hand. "They seem almost like religious stories, or folklore of old, designed to teach. One mentions 'living nightmares,' creatures that reside in the world of dreams, but are able to pass between worlds in the dead of night. According to the writings on the altar, these living nightmares 'feed their heart-mind'—presumably meaning that they feed themselves; the characters are rendered unusually, making the translation awkward—they feed themselves on dreams, and revel in despair and fear. Another says that nightmares stand in direct opposition to dreams and so dislike them, which is why they consume them. Yet another story claims that if a man died suddenly in his sleep, or became so ill healers could not find a remedy, that the man's fears and sins made him weak in the world of dreams and he was taken by nightmares."

"These nightmares sound like demons or evil spirits," Usopp said timidly. "This place can't be haunted too, can it?"

Robin frowned. "Based on the dates, these stories are ancient, older than even the Void Century. It is more likely that the people simply succumbed to illnesses they did not know how to treat, but historically speaking it wasn't uncommon for people to develop religious reasons for the terrible things that happened to them. Since dreams are so intrinsic in their beliefs, placing the blame on evil things such as nightmares would be a logical conclusion."

"Robin-chan, you're positively brilliant," Sanji-kun offered with a sigh. "It's simply amazing how you can discover so much with so little!"

"But it didn't tell us anything but stories," Zoro said with a scowl. "Wasn't there anything useful?"

"Truth is often grounded in stories, Swordsman-san," Robin said quietly. "Though I do agree with you that these particular stories are inconclusive and possess more vague, suggestive mythos than they do fact. But that is just the altar. The wall behind it," she said, gesturing to the cracked stone of the back wall of the temple, "had more recordings that were not merely religious history."

The others perked up in interest, and Robin obligingly continued her explanation. "The wall seems to have been used as a recording for important religious events. The ascension of new priests, important predictions given by dream-oracles, and other such moments are all recorded here, across the full wall." She gestured with one hand in a sweep, then pointed to a specific spot on the wall, and continued, "But there...in that spot, the recorder mentions increased visits from the outside world—off of the island, presumably—and adds that only a decade after their arrival, an alarming increase in those 'taken by nightmares' began, and their dream-oracles started seeing more of the creatures." She frowned, and then said so softly it was almost impossible to hear, "This sudden change seems to have occurred directly in the middle of the Void Century."

As one, Nami's, Zoro's, Sanji-kun's, and Usopp's heads snapped up in surprise. "That's what you're looking for, isn't it, Robin-chan?" Sanji-kun asked, looking hopeful for her.

"Not precisely this," she said slowly. "The incident here seems too isolated to provide clues to the True History, and as far as I know there is no poneglyph here. But it certainly hints at a wide range of disturbances that occurred during that missing century. Something happened here during that time that should not have." Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"You said the people were 'taken by nightmares,' " Nami said slowly. "Does that still mean that they died of illness, or in their sleep, or whatever? Or did this nightmare sickness start appearing then? Did those...those _things_ start appearing then too, to drag people off?"

Robin shook her head, and again, her frustration, though barely hinted at, still seemed plain as day to all of them. "I cannot say," the archaeologist said slowly. "The writings went on to describe the situation in more detail, I believe, but they were completely worn away or outright destroyed." She pointed at a huge gash in the wall, where the stone face seemed to have been almost completely scooped out, obliterating any trace of information.

Zoro swore under his breath, and Usopp clapped his head in his hands in frustration. "So we know where these things came from, _maybe_," the sniper groaned, "but it still doesn't tell us anything about how to beat them, or make Luffy get better!"

"No," Sanji-kun agreed grimly, "It doesn't. Oh—not that your work means anything less, Robin-chan!" He waved his hands placatingly, as though to reassure her that he meant no insult, even though Robin did not look particularly affronted at the agreement. "It's just that we're not really any closer to figuring out what happened. Maybe this thing ate Luffy's dream, whatever that means, although I don't see how. He was awake when he got attacked. And it's not like Luffy'd die if he lost one lousy dream, you can barely get him to go to sleep at night as it is sometimes when he's really excited."

The cook shook his head in exasperation, and Nami had to nod in agreement. Luffy was very much like an obstinate little kid sometimes, one that refused to go to bed when it was his bedtime no matter how exhausted he looked, or became too excited at the prospect of an upcoming adventure to work through his boatloads of energy and pass out. Luffy _always_ enjoyed his waking hours more, and everyone knew it. While he could occasionally be caught sound asleep while fishing, or sprawled out on the deck for a rare snooze, Nami couldn't see how stealing one little dream would affect him that much. Not to the point of being so pale, and empty, and lifeless...no. That couldn't be it.

"I agree," Robin said. "Based on what was uncovered here alone, we have little information to use to save Luffy." She tapped her notebook with one finger, and added, "However, it _does_ give us our next destination. The recordings mention that the outsiders frequented the city at the center of the island, as well as a much larger town east of our current location. The city, Oneirosa, contains the Temple of Dreams that the fishing village chapel also mentioned, and was reportedly a huge draw for the visitors. The village, Remia, sounds like it was the outsiders' chosen base of operations, because the dream-oracles frequented the location often." She looked up. "Either location could provide further information about these Nightmares, as well as a potential clue on how to defeat them, and heal our captain."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Zoro drawled from the doorway. He stood with a soft clack of sheathes. "We've had a chance to rest and eat, and we know where we're going. So let's go already." And, tightening one hand around the sheathe of the white sword, he strode out of the temple into the village.

"Zoro, wait," Usopp yelped, as he snatched up his pack and bag of ammunition. "That's the wrong way, you're going west, not east, come back!" And the sniper darted out the door after their wayward swordsman.

Nami and Robin bent to retrieve their packs and clean up the small mess made from their frugal meal. Sanji-kun wouldn't hear of it and insisted on cleaning up himself, packing up the trash until it could be properly disposed of back on the _Sunny_. Nami and Robin let him get on with it, and in a few moments the ruined temple was just as they had first found it. Robin nodded in satisfaction as they headed for the temple door, but before they could leave completely she turned one last time, gazed back at the glyph-encrusted wall, and frowned.

"What is it, Robin-chan?" Sanji-kun asked, looking back in confusion. "Is something wrong? Did you hear one of those Nightmares?" He looked around carefully, as did Nami, but neither of them spotted anything.

Robin shook her head. "Not at all, Cook-san," she said slowly. "I apologize for worrying you. There is just something else on my mind regarding the translation, is all..."

Nami exchanged confused looks with Sanji-kun, and they asked almost simultaneously, "What do you mean?"

Robin hesitated, and Nami could almost swear she was debating with herself in her own head, wondering whether or not she ought to elaborate. After a moment, however, she retrieved her notebook from her backpack again, sprouted extra arms to hold it and the inkwell, and held her quill hovering over the parchment.

"You must never tell anyone about what I am about to show you," she said quietly, but her voice was firm, leaving no room for debate. "Understanding the script linked to the poneglyphs is dangerous, as you already know. Even knowing one character of thousands would be grounds for the military to try and obliterate you. Do not ever give them that opportunity, you understand?"

"Robin-chan," Sanji-kun trilled delightedly, "It's wonderful to know you trust us so much to share this with us!" He looked enthusiastic, but at Robin's stern look he seemed to deflate, and said more seriously, "No, I mean it...it's good to know _you_ know you can share such important things with us. And I promise I won't tell anybody, Robin-chan."

"Me too," Nami said, puzzled and a little frightened by Robin's serious warning, but curious all the same. "It'll be our secret."

"Very well," Robin said, and brought her quill to the top half of the blank page in her notebook. Her hand sketched quickly and with confidence, and within moments one of the strange glyphs had appeared in ink on the parchment, all squiggly lines and square edges that made no sense to Nami. "This is the glyph for 'dream,'" Robin explained carefully, tapping the page carefully with an extra digit. "It means visions seen at night, although sometimes it is interchangeable with illusions or day-visions as well."

"Okay," Nami said, after studying the sketch for a minute, leaning close enough to see it over Robin's current multitude of elbows. Sanji-kun was standing on the piece of rubble Zoro had been using as a seat earlier, in order to look over Robin's shoulder.

"But this," Robin continued, sketching on the bottom half of the page now, "is the glyph that keeps appearing in all these recordings...both here, and back in the fishing village." And just as quickly, a new glyph had been scribbled quickly but precisely below the first.

For a moment, Nami didn't notice much of a difference. The had the same squiggly lines and the same square edges in all approximately the same places, and Nami really couldn't see what was confusing Robin so badly. Then, after a few more moments of comparing the two, Nami started seeing the differences. They were subtle, almost nonexistent to the untrained eye, though they obviously stood out clear as day to Robin. A thicker squiggly line there than the first. A line tapering off into nonexistence earlier than in the first image. A slashing line that seemed to break through a few others, connecting lines where they did not connect before.

"At first I thought it was simply a mistake," Robin explained, as Nami and Sanji-kun gasped in surprise when they noticed the changes. "There were a few other cases in the writings of a difference in dialect, just slightly. They'd be the equivalent of spelling mistakes today, or different spellings for the same words across islands." She shook her head and tapped the second character again. "But this is different. The way the rest of the text refers to this character, I am convinced it is not a simple misspelling, and yet I have never seen this one before."

"So what does that mean?" Nami asked.

"I am not sure," Robin admitted with another slight shake of her head. "The character seems almost elevated. It still reads as 'dream,' I am sure, because it is juxtaposed so often against the word 'nightmare,' but...perhaps a dream, in this culture, means something else entirely." She frowned. "Whatever the case, I am sure it is related to whatever happened to Luffy."

Nami felt a little ill at that announcement, and Sanji-kun was frowning as he stepped off the chunk of rock and lit himself a new cigarette. Robin snapped her now-dry notebook shut and replaced it, the quill, and the inkwell once again into her backpack with her many hands, but she, too, was frowning.

They heard a call over in the distance, and spotted Usopp coming towards them, one hand hooked into the top of Zoro's haramaki as he dragged the swordsman back with an exasperated look on his face. "Sorry," the sniper called. "Zoro moves fast. He was already at the other side of the village when I caught him." Zoro scowled, but said nothing.

"Don't worry, Robin," Nami said encouragingly. "We've got a new village to head to, right? Maybe we'll find out more about..._that_...when we get there." The others reached them now, and as one they headed east, searching for the road that would lead them to the next village, Remia, and with any luck, answers as well.

"I hope so, Navigator-san," Robin said grimly, as she hoisted her pack more firmly on her shoulders. "I have a feeling we are all in much more danger than we initially thought, after reading that text."

If the island could unnerve even Robin, then Nami knew it was no good. They found the new road and set off down it grimly, alert and aware, plunging back into the sun-blocking forest within minutes. The navigator shuddered as she tried to banish the feeling that she was being watched by hundreds of shiny black eyes from the cool, dark shadows of the red-gold forest.

She wasn't very successful.

* * *

><p>It was barely half an hour after Nami's exploration team left, when Luffy opened his eyes for the first time since last night's attack.<p>

Chopper was with him at the time, rereading one of his medical books on poison by the sunlight streaming through one of the porthole windows, but at the soft sigh he looked up just in time to see Luffy's eyes snap open. It startled Chopper enough that he actually fell off his chair in surprise and crashed to the wood planking of the floor before he thought to check on Luffy's current state.

When he did finally recover, it was with enthusiasm. For a moment he was ready to bolt for the door, rip it open, and call excitedly to Franky (working on ship repairs) and Brook (enthusiastically helping in any way he could) that their captain was awake again and back to normal. He managed to stop himself long enough to calm down and give Luffy a quick examination first.

It was almost immediately apparent that Luffy wasn't better. If anything, it was more obvious than ever that he was getting _worse._

In the sun streaming through the window, Luffy's skin looked paler than ever, and now possessed a grayish hue that hadn't been there before last night. Chopper had folded the blankets down to Luffy's waist since their captain didn't really need the warmth, and his exposed arms and face looked positively ghastly, like they belonged to a rubbery corpse. It was strange, because although he _looked_ terrible, he wasn't exhibiting any other signs of physical or even mental distress. His breathing was still smooth and even, without a hitch, and there was no flush of fever or minute shivers from cold.

Their captain's eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling. But his gaze was dull, noticed nothing around him, and the usual enthusiastic sparkle at the thought of adventure or meat or half a dozen other things was absent. There were vague shadows under his eyes, as though he hadn't been sleeping, even though it was the_ only_ thing he'd been doing since they brought him back from that Nightmare attack.

"Luffy?" Chopper asked tentatively. The captain didn't respond. He didn't even seem to hear his name being called. Frowning, the reindeer felt Luffy's forehead, checked his pulse, and looked at the four minute puncture wounds again. And when that still yielded no results at all, the little doctor frantically resorted to checking his ears, his reflexes, his blood pressure, and peeling back his eyelids to look closely at his eyes. No matter what he did, Luffy did not react; he was about as responsive as a corpse. It was a little frightening, to see Luffy so unaware. It was like he was cut off from all five senses, existing in a state of nothing.

He wasn't noticing his nakama. That wasn't normal.

He didn't demand his hat back, even though it was sitting right next to him on the desk, where Usopp had placed it last night. He didn't even look at it. That wasn't normal, either.

Panicking slightly now, Chopper drew another vial of blood from their captain for further study. Perhaps this was a new symptom for the mysterious nightmare illness, the poison that the strange spider-creature had to have injected Luffy with. Perhaps it was manifesting more clearly, now, and a blood sample would reveal the venom, and some way to treat it.

Chopper was afraid, but the change also offered him a new glimmer of hope, and he went to work with a will. The blood was placed with his test kit on the opposite side of the desk in moments, and the reindeer moved quickly to bandage the little spot of blood on Luffy's arm before returning to his tests.

When the gauze hit Luffy's pale, rubbery skin, the captain sighed softly and said, so low it was almost a whisper, "Can't...find...it..."

Chopper jumped again, and the gauze slipped. He chastised himself for making such an amateur mistake, especially around Luffy—their captain _always_ talked in his sleep, after all, and he was well used to it by now. The fact that he hadn't expected it when Luffy was in such a creepy state was no excuse for messing up. Gritting his teeth, he went back to bandaging Luffy's arm where he'd drawn the blood, and asked carefully, "Can't find what, Luffy?"

Luffy didn't appear to hear the question. He hadn't moved at all, and was still staring straight up at the ceiling. Chopper waved a hoof over Luffy's face, cutting across his field of vision, and clicked his hooves together in an approximation of a snap. No response. Luffy's eyes didn't even track his movements.

"Must've been a fluke," Chopper said with a sigh. Well, he'd find out what was wrong once he studied that blood again. He hopped down from the cot Luffy lay on and moved over to his desk to start preparing the blood tests.

Then Luffy started again.

"Can't...find...it...gone. Can't...find...it...lost. Can't...find it. Gone. Can't find it...lost...Can't find it..." Over and over, in the same soft, barely audible whisper, without once blinking or breaking his staring gaze from the ceiling.

Chopper shivered. The whispering tone was so cold and emotionless; it was nothing at all like how Luffy was supposed to sound. The whispering chant continued nonstop, and Chopper clamped his hooves over his sensitive ears, starting to whimper quietly.

"Luffy, please stop it. Please. I don't like that, okay?"

"Can't find it...gone...can't find it...lost..._stolen_." The last word was a rasp, and as if grinding from one track to another, Luffy's whispering voice took up a new chant, faster and more insistent but no more emotional than his first. "Stolen, stolen, stolen, stolenstolenstolen_stolen_—"

"Luffy, stop it!" Chopper said more insistently. "You're scaring me!"

The chant cut off abruptly, and Luffy quieted, though he still remained staring blankly at the ceiling. Nothing apart from his lips had moved during the entire strange ranting. Hesitantly, Chopper lifted his hooves from his ears and flicked them upward, listening, but Luffy remained quiet and did not start speaking again.

Chopper shivered and climbed up onto his desk chair, glancing once more over at their still captain. Whatever was wrong with him, it was definitely getting worse. He had to find a cure for it. He _had_ to. Because there was no way any of them could ever live with Luffy like this again...and he had to find some way to fix it.

He pulled his hat down firmly on his head in grim determination and set to work.

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><p>The village name 'Remia' comes from REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Oneirosa's name stems from oneirology, the study of dreams.<p>

I think you guys know the drill by now for if you decide to leave a review.

~VelkynKarma


	5. Assault

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part five of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** We've got a new face!  
>h t t p :  / tinypic . com / r / 33a7x3o / 7  
>Ain't he just a <em>beaut?<em>

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"He who sings scares away his woes."<br>~Cervantes

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><p>It was only a little past noon when Franky finally finished his work on the <em>Thousand Sunny.<em> He was right on time, just like he'd promised the girlie; a _super_ estimation if there ever was one. He'd even managed to let Brook help with minor tasks, handing down supplies and tools so Franky didn't have to keep climbing up and down from the ship's side to the deck. The skeleton had managed to not mess up once, so they were both feeling especially satisfied right about now.

When he finally clambered back up onto the main deck a little after lunchtime, he neatened his piles of tools and supplies, but didn't put them away just yet. He'd had to replace a few of the torn planks from the ripped open hull with new ones of fresh Adam's Wood, courtesy of his personal remaining stock down in storage. The old broken planks were now lying in a neat pile on deck, awaiting further use. They wouldn't be much good as a part of the hull anymore, but Franky was pretty sure he could still find a use for the valuable wood stock that wasn't torn up, if given enough time. He'd consult with Usopp when the rest of the crew got back later; the sniper might have some innovative ideas for the planks, too.

Their work finished, Franky and Brook waited by the rails on deck, watching the fishing village just ahead of them with increasing states of impatience and worry. From all their talk, Franky had expected the rest of the crew back at some point in mid-afternoon, hopefully with information that might help their captain. But another hour passed, and another, and there was still no sign of Girlie, Curly-Cook, Usopp, Sword-bro, or Robin. They were probably fine, but considering Strawhat's current state, there was no way to be sure.

"I dislike all this waiting," Brook, leaning against the rails nearby, finally confessed softly. His violin was in one hand, and he had been idly playing it for the past hour to keep them entertained, but Franky could easily tell the musician's heart wasn't in it like it usually was.

Franky raised his sunglasses (lowered for the afternoon blaze until now) and cocked an eyebrow at his crew mate. "I figured you were the patient type, Skeleton," he commented absently. "After fifty years—" (fifty heart-wrenchingly sad years, but he was _totally_ not going to cry over that, that'd be very _not_ super) "—what's a couple more hours?"

"I would agree with you normally, but I must confess I am concerned for the well being of the rest of the crew," Brook admitted. "You didn't see that monster, Franky-san, but it was...it was _very_ scary."

This coming from a walking skeleton, the shipwright thought wryly...but he wasn't about to argue. He'd heard the stories last night, and seen what happened to Strawhat, and had to admit he was more than worried himself even if he _definitely_ wasn't going to say it out loud.

"And after all this, I doubt we will even complete our mission in the first place," Brook finished with a dramatic sigh, and a long, mournful wail of the violin as he drew the bow heart-wrenchingly across the strings.

"Our mission?" Franky asked, confused, but then he froze. "You're right! We came here for those Dreamshard things sis was so excited about. I totally forgot after the attack, but I haven't seen any since we've been here."

"They are very beautiful gems," the skeleton agreed. "A sight for sore eyes, even though I have no eyes! But I, too, have not seen any, not even in the fishing village when we explored it yesterday." He gestured absently to the little collection of huts in the distance with the violin bow, and then returned to playing the instrument, creating a sad little dirge that whistled through the empty air and vanished on the tiny breeze.

"Stop doing that, Skelly," Franky complained. "Play something happier, or you're gonna...that is...ah, the wind might scatter dust in my eyes, see?" Brook obliged, and to the much more cheerful, faster tune of 'Bink's Sake,' the cyborg recovered and continued their conversation. "Those Dreamshards sis wants are really valuable, right? Maybe the people here knew it too. Maybe they were hidden, or buried. Like pirate treasure."

"It's very possible, Franky-san!" the skeleton offered cheerfully. His mood seemed to change with his music, and now that he was playing a livelier tune he seemed a little more uplifted. "If some were buried on the beaches it could explain why they get washed away to Adamantina, too. This place seems older than even a skeleton like me, and the beaches could easily be eroded over time!"

"It'd be too bad if we came all this way and Girlie didn't even get her Dreamshards," Franky said, musingly, chin resting on one large hand as he leaned on the rail. "And they were worth a mint back on Adamantina, too. Just one would be enough to pay for dozens of _super_ adjustments to _Sunny_ and her systems. I bet I could even get a hold of more Adam Wood if we needed it."

Brook nodded amicably in agreement, though he volunteered no material desires of his own. He had his violin, and the grand piano they'd taken from Thriller Bark a few weeks ago, which was all he really needed to be happy. But he did pick up the pace in whatever he was playing now—it didn't sound terribly like _Bink's Sake_, so Franky didn't recognize it anymore—and said delightedly, "Perhaps there is some hidden in the village right now!"

Franky considered, and eyed the village at the end of the stone docks. It was still bright and sunny out, and the streets that he could see from here were completely illuminated in the afternoon sunlight. It wasn't too far away, either, and since there wasn't much else they could do here but wait...

"Let's go look for them," the cyborg said decisively, and reeled back from the rails of the ship, stretching tall.

The ditty Brook was playing ground to a halt with an indignant squawk, and the musician stumbled backwards so fast he almost tipped overboard. "Wh-wh-what? Leave the ship? With those _monsters_ out there? But it wouldn't be safe at all!"

Franky caught his bony arm in one meaty fist before he could pitch backwards into the water and hauled him further to the safety of the deck. "It'll be fine," Franky argued. "There hasn't been a thing out there all day, it's still light out, and we'll stay within sight of the _Thousand Sunny_. We shouldn't wander too far in case the doc needs us for anything, but if we stay near the docks, everything'll be fine. And besides, if we find one of those Dreamshards, then sis'll be in a _super_ good mood, and we can make the _Sunny_ even stronger too!"

Brook still looked a little skeptical (Franky thought, anyway; sometimes it was hard to tell, seeing as the skeleton was only capable of about three expressions without a face). But after a moment he nodded. "Very well," he said, as he stooped to replace the violin in a case at his feet, and retrieve the cane-sword from where it leaned nearby. "If that is so, then I will accompany you! And perhaps if we are lucky we shall find gems beautiful enough to set a man's heart pounding! ...Well, perhaps yours, but not mine, for I have none—"

"Yeah, yeah," Franky muttered, and headed over to the infirmary door long enough to knock on it and let Chopper know they were heading to the village. The reindeer didn't respond, but peeking through the window the cyborg could see their doctor hard at work at his desk, juggling a variety of vials and studying them intently. Franky let him be, and he and Skeleton climbed down the rope ladder to the stone docks that led to the village beyond.

They poked around the ruined cluster of houses for almost an hour, and it was well into mid-afternoon before the two stopped to take a break and trade findings. There weren't any. They explored all the houses within sight of the _Sunny_, and while Franky tapped walls and searched for hidden spaces in the stone, and Brook poked his sword cane at the ground in hopes of finding looser soil where something might be buried, they found no trace of the brilliantly shining Dreamshards that they had seen on Adamantina.

Franky was beginning to wonder if the people at the previous island even had the stories right at all—maybe the Dreamshards didn't come from this island at all, but another one nearby—when two screams ripped through the air.

Brook's head snapped up immediately, and face or no, Franky was _definitely_ sure that expression was surprise. "That is the same cry the other creature made last night!" the skeleton announced with a tremble in his voice, but even so his hand was steady as he drew his sword out of its cane sheath.

"There were _two_ that time," Franky responded with a frown, and turned around hastily, searching for the source of the noises.

They didn't have long to wait. There was a loud _thud_ and a resounding _crash_, and then two creatures barreled into view around an old, run-down building, coming from the direction of the forest beyond the village. The skeleton yelped in surprise— _"That's them, Franky-san, that's what the creature looked like!"_ and Franky stared in disgust and morbid fascination as the strange spider-cat-scorpion aberrations charged towards them, screeching loudly. Both of them, he noted absently, had the sharp blade-like tails at the ends of their bulbous bodies; neither of these were the ones that had hurt Luffy last night.

That made him notice something else, and even as he lowered his body into a combat stance he yelled to Brook, "The tails are armored too, look!"

It was true. The creatures' bodies were covered in a thick chitin-like substance, shinier in the sunlight, and resembled armored plates that ran all the way up their backs to the edge of the bladed tail. So Zoro hadn't found any particular weak spot after all. Those things were armored as well as a tank, and an ordinary sword wouldn't have cut through it. But everyone who had seen the attack last night distinctly recalled Sword-bro chopping the thing's tail straight off. What the hell had happened?

"They're not afraid of the sun either!" the skeleton yelled back. His observation was correct as well. Although the creatures were weaving back and forth into small pools of shadow cast by the buildings when they could, they did not appear particularly afraid of the sun. It was more like they simply disliked the light, rather than feared it. That wasn't a good sign.

The smaller of the two Nightmares was still hissing and shrieking frantically as it flailed its two sets of mandibles, and it was rapidly pulling ahead of its partner. Its eight mismatched legs dug into the ground and rocketed it forward with alarming speed, and its many bulbous eyes were fixated straight on the two of them.

"Look out, Franky-san!" Brook warned, and leapt forward with surprising speed to meet the creature's charge. With a quick flourish of his sword, the skeleton brought his weapon thrusting forward at the Nightmare's head with a cry of _"Gavotte Bond en Avant!"_

For a moment, Franky was sure the attack would be successful, and the cane-sword would plunge into the Nightmare's skull with a sickening crack and a spurt of blood. But stunningly enough the sword tip scraped up and over the creature's armored head with a teeth-jarring screech, and without even slowing its momentum the Nightmare crashed forward into Brook and seized the nearly weightless skeleton in its clicking mandibles.

It started to lift the musician in the air, but Franky intervened before another two seconds were allowed to pass. His left fist seized Brook's spine, fingers awkwardly fitting into the cavities of the undead man's ribcage, and with a furious twist he ripped his fellow pirate free of the grasping mandibles. He heard cloth tearing, and the creature shrieked angrily, but Franky couldn't care less. His right elbow was already crashing down onto the horror story's head with a roar of anger, and the creature's hiss of protest cut off with a rasping grunt as its jaw was slammed into the dirt.

But for all that, Franky knew he had barely even stunned the thing, let alone injured it. The uncomfortable grating feeling of metal on metal had told him that much; Curly-Cook hadn't been kidding when he said the thing was _armored_. It wasn't covered in metal, but that natural chitin was almost as good as the metal plating underneath his own skin, and that was going to make beating this thing seriously tricky.

"I can't believe my sword couldn't cut it!" Brook was yammering now. "Zoro-san's sword cut that monster! He is considerably stronger than me in the art of the blade, but still, is there _that_ much of a difference between us?"

"Don't know," Franky growled, "But we're not stopping to find out!" One creature alone was tricky enough as it was, but the second larger but slower Nightmare was still charging up the streets towards them, and without Sword-bro there to help them beat it they'd be in deep trouble. Pushing Brook behind himself, he ripped the glove-like skin coating off his right hand, revealing a solid steel fist, and drew back his arm just as the first, faster Nightmare recovered its balance and raised his head.

_"Strong Hammer!"_ he roared, and put all his fury into the blow. He caught the bristling, angry creature straight between its bulbous eyes, and while his punch wasn't enough to break the chitin armor, it _was_ enough to force the creature back powerfully. The Nightmare shrieked wordlessly as it was sent flying down the street and cannoned into its partner, sending the two of them crashing into a dilapidated building in a tangle of mismatched legs.

"Run!" Franky ordered, and Brook obligingly did so, charging after him on gangly skeletal legs back towards the _Sunny_. They could hear more terrifying, cold screaming behind them, and not just from the two creatures they had knocked into each other, but further back, from several more directions. Reinforcements were coming.

They were almost at the docks when a new scream, different than the others, sounded from terrifyingly close by. It was lower, an almost rumbling purr, layered over with a growling hiss like an old gas furnace. Before Franky had time to ask the skeleton if he recognized the noise, an old hut two buildings behind them burst in a shower of rubble, and something new slithered out after them.

At first, with a quick glance over his shoulder, Franky thought it was another one of the spider-cat-scorpion Nightmares. It had a multitude of legs like those did, _far_ too many to be acceptable, even more than a centaur should have. Then he realized with a start that this was a completely different creature, arrowing straight towards them with unerring surety. Its body appeared to be that of an enormous python, dark and shadowy in color with a reptilian head. Or perhaps it was supposed to be more like a centipede; this creature, too, was covered in the same chitinous plating that the other Nightmares possessed, and it had six narrowed slit-eyes resting atop its snakelike skull. But instead of a multitude of insect-like legs, this creature possessed arms: _dozens_ of arms, each working independently, fluidly, walking the creature forward at an alarming pace. Franky almost would have thought it was some strange sick joke on Nico Robin's part if he hadn't already known her sense of humor—while morbid—frequently didn't extend to such pranks.

The creature noticed his repeated glances over his shoulder, and hissed, flicking a snakelike tongue—no, _three_ snakelike tongues—out at him as it glided forward in a strange, undulating, half-slither and half-walk. It raised the front third of its body up abruptly, just like a snake really might, leaving three pairs of arms unoccupied with walking—and then lunged forward abruptly, extending its unnatural number of hands straight for the two of them.

Franky jumped with a curse, and while the hands brushed his heels they missed grasping him by a hair. Brook was not so lucky. One of the creature's fists grasped his bony ankle, and with a cry of alarm the skeleton crashed to the ground, arms outstretched in front of him. Instantly the snake-arm _thing_ had scrabbled forward, using its many hands to hold the skeleton down and hissing warningly in the musician's ear.

Brook let out a screech of alarm, and Franky swore again. The arm-creature, _whatever_ the hell it was, was definitely fast! He spun on one heel to head back and help, but a swirling feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he was probably too late to be of any use. According to the others' reports, Luffy had been mysteriously harmed the moment the first type of Nightmares had managed to fully seize hold of him. While Franky had managed to prevent the first Nightmare from getting a good grip on Brook a few minutes ago, this new thing already had their musician cold.

But it didn't bend down to try and consume the skeleton or try to raise him in the air, and while Brook was definitely screeching bloody murder from panic, it didn't sound even remotely like the despairing scream everyone had described yesterday when Luffy had been attacked. It just undulated over the captured skeleton, hissing fearsomely and repeatedly twisting its reptilian head back to look for its companions. It was a long shot, but Franky thought that maybe—just maybe—_this_ creature couldn't use that particular attack.

No good dwelling on it. Whatever it could or couldn't do, it was still dangerous, and it had one of his nakama in its grasp. Now Franky was _mad_, and he was going to show it. Twisting both of his arms together in front of him, he glared over his fingers at the snake-arm creature and growled, "Better pay attention to me, Scaly!"

The creature whipped around once again and raised its reptilian head higher, glaring at him with six glittering eyes. It opened its mouth wide to let out a rumbling, hissing growl—at the exact same moment that Franky's arms finished charging and he roared, _"Coup de Vent!"_

The compressed air blast fired straight into the snake-arm's mouth, and the angry hiss turned into a pained wail of surprise as it flew backwards and smashed to the dirt-packed village streets behind it. Brook was momentarily jerked with it, but the creature's hands flew open reflexively and the skeleton dropped to the dirt packed earth some distance from the new Nightmare, scrambling to his feet and charging back towards his crew mate.

"Th-th-thank you!" he managed to stammer, as he staggered past the cyborg—Franky made sure he was in front this time, just in case.

"Thank me later, Skelly, for now just _move!_" the shipwright ordered sharply. The snake-arm behind them was dazed—apparently its insides weren't as armored as its outsides, although it had been a _very_ lucky shot that he doubted he could duplicate. But it was already staggering to its feet (arms, rather) and swaying drunkenly after them as it shrieked to its companions. Franky had a feeling they didn't want to be there when its backup arrived.

They reached the _Thousand Sunny_ in record time and clambered up onto the decks, pulling the rope ladder up with them. Franky wasn't sure how much good it would even do. Spiders and cats were good at climbing after all, and that snake thing had so many arms it'd be impossible for it _not_ to find a handhold somewhere. But he wasn't going to give the things any aid if he could help it. Both of the pirates stumbled frantically to the front of the ship and stared over the railings, panting as they searched for the enemy creatures.

There were a lot of them. _Far_ too many of them. It was like a spider's nest had been opened, and a fresh swarm of the creatures was heading straight for them, intent and hungry. Franky didn't know where the hell they all came from, but they were swarming out of the village like ants out of an anthill, and they were all coming straight for the _Sunny_. Most of them were the strange spider-cats, but Franky spotted two more of the snake-arm things too, weaving in and out of the insectoid crowd with their strange undulating walk.

"They're like generals," Franky said, bewildered.

"The...the new things?" Brook asked, after trying and failing to find some sort of name for the snake-monsters.

"Yeah. Look at them. They act smarter than the spider things, less mindless," Franky said, grimacing. "And they're herding the spider things on. I think...the first ones, the spider-cat Nightmares, they must be the things that do the poisoning, but they must have to be ordered to do it or something. That snake-thing didn't try to bite you, or do whatever it did to Luffy to you. It just held you down for the others."

"You make them sound a lot more intelligent than I'd care for, Franky-san," Brook said, and while his skull appeared impassive, the apprehension in the musician's voice was definitely audible.

"Yeah," Franky said with a grimace. "I hear ya there, Skeleton." The creatures were already at the docks now, beginning to scurry down the slippery stone towards the _Thousand Sunny_, and Franky turned and ran back towards the infirmary. "C'mon, move! I bet those things are after Luffy again, we can't let'em get on the ship!"

"Right!" Brook agreed quickly, and after bending to scoop up his violin he charged after the cyborg.

The thundering_ clack-clack_ of the spider-like Nightmare legs were growing closer, along with their hissing hunting shrieks, and now Chopper met them at the infirmary door with a panicked expression on his face. "What's going on, what's going on?" the little reindeer cried, dancing back and forth anxiously on his little hooves. "Those things can't be back, can they?"

"They are," Franky said shortly. "A _lot_ of them. Guard the door, don't let'em get to our captain. I'll try to keep'em off the ship. Skelly, you help the doc, hurry!"

"Right!" the two chorused in unison, and although they were both clearly terrified, Chopper expanded to his gorilla form and Brook raised his sword again, ineffectual as it was.

Franky ran to the edge of the _Sunny_, planting himself firmly at one of the railings. He could already hear the scraping of spider legs on his masterpiece's hull, and thought furiously of all the damage the creatures would cause before this was over. But if he could shoot them down before they got on deck, they might stand a chance of surviving this fiasco.

Not that he had much hope. He couldn't even beat one of the strange Nightmares, and there had to be _dozens_ of them here, swarming like angry insects. They'd inevitably get on the deck, and he didn't know what they'd do about them then. But he'd try to fight them off, damn it. That was his _captain_ in there that they wanted to eat, and there was no way he'd stand for it!

A new wave of hissing screams rent the air, and Franky raised his left arm in determination, planning to rain all the artillery he had down on the creatures. Then he froze. The creatures weren't screaming with the thrill of the hunt. The sound was exactly the same startled shriek that he'd heard when he sent the snake-arm flying, or when he'd punched the spider Nightmare into one of its kin.

The creatures were in _pain_.

Stunned, he stared down at the spider things, already halfway up the_ Sunny's_ side. Oily black smoke was beginning to pour off the sides of the ship, and for one horrified moment he thought his precious masterpiece was burning. Then he realized it wasn't the ship at all; it was the creatures themselves. Everywhere a clawed leg or armored belly touched the ship, the Nightmares were dissolving into liquid-like black smoke, screeching in agony. Even so, the stubborn abominations still struggled to climb higher, desperate to reach the rails and clamber onto the decks above.

Already the first wave had ground to a halt, buying them a few moments of time. With a sudden burst of new determination, Franky raised his left arm and, aiming _very_ carefully to avoid the _Sunny's_ freshly repaired hull, roared, _"Weapons Left!"_

Three of the creatures dropped off of the hull into the water, screeching in surprise and still smoking. Franky smirked to himself. His aim was nothing compared to Usopp's sharpshooting skills, but he still wasn't a bad shot himself.

The Nightmares were recovering though, aided by the furious rumbling purrs of the three undulating snake-arms. The spider Nightmares skittered back and forth as though unsure, but at further rumbling screeches that Franky was almost _sure_ were commands, now, a new wave of the spider-cats charged forward and began clambering up the _Sunny's_ side once more.

"Not that smart, are you?" Franky growled, as the fresh spiders began to smoke on contact with the ship. He didn't know what was causing it—maybe the creatures were allergic to Adam Wood, or something—but either way, he knew the _Sunny_ was helping them in this fight. He aimed his left arm again—

And a third wave of the spider Nightmares surged forward, using their dying brethren as ladders to clamber over so that their own bodies would not touch the wood paneling of the great ship.

Franky swore as the creatures swarmed upward, too fast for him to handle. He backpedaled quickly, putting himself back to back with Brook and raising his fists defensively. The new wave of Nightmares reached the decks and crashed down onto the grassy surface, but then these, too, started to smoke, shrieking in pain as they began to disintegrate.

"What's going on?" Chopper yelled behind him. "The _Sunny's_ hurting them!"

"Not sure," Franky said. "Keep your guard up, more are coming and they'll use these ones as a floor!"

And sure enough a fourth wave of them came, mindlessly rushing to their own deaths, carpeting the _Sunny_ with their own twisted, horrific bodies to pave the way for those behind them. They were getting dangerously too close for comfort now, and as more creatures began dying on deck, more combat space was opened for the creatures at the back of the swarm. Whatever the _Sunny_ did to them was powerful, but pretty soon they would be overrun.

"Damn!" the cyborg snarled. "If we could just stun them long enough to let the Sunny finish'em off—"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance!" Brook said suddenly. "If they are Nightmares, perhaps they sleep, as well!" And, ripping open his violin case quickly, he drew the flat of his sword over the instrument's strings and shouted, _"Lullaby Flanc!"_

"What the hell is that—" Franky began, and then swayed in surprise as a slow, soothing tune shivered to life from the violin. It made his eyelids droop, and Chopper looked confused as well, gripping one edge of the infirmary's doorway to keep upright. "Dammit, Brook," the cyborg continued at a lower volume, "whatever you're doing, it's affecting _us!_"

"No," Chopper said sleepily, "They don't like it either, look..."

It was true, Franky realized in surprise. While the creatures did not droop with the sudden soothing lullaby, and did not look remotely fatigued, they _had_ frozen in place and trembled with visible exertion. They looked confused and agitated, but despite their obvious dislike of this latest attack, they did not surge forward to stop it.

It clicked suddenly. "Skelly!" Franky yelled over the soothing lullaby tune. "Keep playing music, they don't like it! But something livelier, don't put us to sleep!"

"Understood!" Brook yelled back. Dropping his cane sword, he instead drew the violin's bow free from its case and raised it to the instrument, just as the Nightmares snapped out of their stupor and swayed in place.

"Look out!" Chopper said suddenly, as dozens of the creatures raised their heads and released long, keening shrieks, snapping their blade-like tails to and fro. "Last time they did that—fear—"

Franky remembered the story clearly; how the Nightmare's terror-inducing attack had frozen even Curly-Cook and Sword-bro in place. And now there were dozens of them using it, all at the same time. He grimaced, and the blast of sheer terror and despair hit him like an icy avalanche—at the exact same moment Brook struck up the first few chords of a fast-paced rendition of _Bink's Sake._

The music trembled alarmingly, slipped screeching into a series of bad notes as Brook was hit by the terror blast and his whole body began to tremble. But the musical notes, even mistakenly made, had their own effects as well. Franky felt the icy terror and raw despair of the Nightmare's attacks grip at his heart for a fraction of a second, but the warm, lively notes of Brook's violin seemed to wash the terror away almost instantly, like sun beating furiously down on snow.

Franky, Brook and Chopper froze for a fraction of a second as the fear filled them and the music freed them, and then Brook, seizing control of himself once more, launched himself into the most heartfelt and powerful rendition of _Bink's Sake_ any of them had ever heard before. It was quick, cheerful, exciting, and made Franky almost feel like dancing then and there. It was almost impossible to remember that the creatures surrounding them had stifled them with pure _terror_ just a moment before.

And the music had another effect: the Nightmares were not just agitated anymore by the melody. They appeared to have been fastened in place, stunned into immobility just as their own terror had done to their victims moments before.

"Keep it up, Skelly!" Franky encouraged, even as his mind flew frantically for some sort of counterattack now that they had found their unexpected defense.

"Yohohoho! Certainly, Franky-san!" the musician replied, fingers and bow moving so fast over the violin's strings they were a blur.

The creatures were still locked in place, though a few trembled alarmingly, twitching limbs and scratching at their dying kin that they still stood on. Smoke billowed in the air now as the creatures began to disintegrate, and with a sudden, vicious grin Franky came upon the perfect solution to their problem.

Diving forward, the cyborg snatched up two pieces of planking from his repairs earlier. Though splintered from the initial hull breakage, both pieces of Adam Wood were still relatively sturdy, and more importantly, they had also been a part of _Sunny_ until very, very recently. Tossing one plank over his shoulder into Chopper's stunned arms, the cyborg raised the second plank in both huge fists and growled, "Get off my ship, you ugly bugs!" even as he swung it full force.

The plank collided with the nearest frozen spider Nightmare. Franky was expecting it to start smoking, just like the others that had been walking on the ship. What he hadn't expected was that the creature would burst into flames with an ear-bleeding scream and dissolve into oily black smoke in the span of only a few seconds. He stumbled forward in surprise as the plank, no longer meeting resistance, continued to swing, and caught the next nearest Nightmare in the leg. The creature's limb vanished into smoke as well, and seconds later the whole creature went up in a blaze.

"Franky!" Chopper said, looking both stunned and amazed. "How did you _do_ that? That's...that's so cool!" Even in the midst of the terror, or perhaps because of it, the reindeer latched onto any sort of familiar routine of hero-worship that he could.

"Just smack'em with the planks!" Franky yelled back, "they don't like the wood!" and followed his own advice.

Their whole strategy was unexpected, but now that they had stumbled upon it, it worked wonders. Brook kept the Nightmares at bay with his fast paced, lively music—he'd long since finished _Bink's Sake_ and had moved on to other things that Franky couldn't even begin to recognize, but were still fast and furious—while the reindeer and cyborg took advantage of their stunned states to beat them into blazing submission. Every one of the creatures actively attacked by the _Sunny's_ Adam-Wood planks went up in flames and dissolved into liquid-like black smoke, dissipating into the air in minutes as though they never existed. More surged over the sides mindlessly, driven to attack and hunt, but these too were stunned by Brook's musical notes and defeated by Chopper's and Franky's swinging planks.

In the end, the battle finished when one of the snake-arm Nightmares surged over the railings, hissing and weaving wildly as it slither-walked towards them over the bodies of its fallen spider-like soldiers. Franky caught it straight in its ugly reptilian head with the _Sunny's_ plank, roaring wordlessly since he didn't have an attack name _quite_ yet. This creature seemed more durable than its spider-cat relatives, and while a vicious burn seared into its armored scales, sending tendrils of smoke into the air, it did not burst into flames. But it was sent flying from the force of the blow, and crashed straight into the rope-ladder rigging that the crew used to climb the masts and care for the sails. Its many arms tangled in the rope-mesh confines, and with an enraged, pained, rumbling _scream_ the creature finally dissolved into thick smoke, leaving behind a disgusting charred-meat smell.

After that, the creatures retreated, skittering wildly over their fallen kin as they scrambled back over the decks, down the docks, and towards the village. They hissed wildly, fearfully, and even the remaining two snake-arm Nightmares, after giving the Straw-Hats withering looks, vanished into the streets.

"We did it!" Chopper said, amazed. "I can't believe we beat that many of those...those _things!_"

Brook finally lowered his bow from his violin, and appeared to be panting heavily...somehow. "Indeed we did," the skeleton agreed, "though I am amazed at how many there were to begin with!"

"Too many," Franky agreed. "But at least we know how to beat them now." He demonstrated once again by bringing the plank still in his hands—and no worse for wear after beating in the heads of a dozen armored creatures—crashing down onto the body of a half-dissolved spider Nightmare still laying prone on their decks. The creature burst into flames instantly and was gone in seconds.

"I wonder why they don't like the _Sunny,_" Chopper said, puzzled. He glanced down at the plank in his hands. "Do they not like this special wood?"

"No," Franky said with a frown. "That can't be it. The grass hurt them too, and the rigging. Whatever it is that hurts them, it's all over the _Sunny._" Which was a little puzzling, though he was pleased to see that his beloved ship could withstand even the most freakish of creatures without any harm.

"I guess," the reindeer agreed, though he looked just as confused as Franky felt. Then, suddenly dropping the plank, he added, "Oh! We have Nightmares here now...maybe I can get a venom sample!"

But it proved impossible, in the end. The creatures dissolved too quickly for them to provide any reasonable specimens to study, and even when Chopper managed to extract a vial of blood from one of them, it vanished into smoke when the rest of the creature did. Chopper looked frustrated and ashamed with himself, but Franky gave him an encouraging pat on the back. "Don't worry about it, doc," he said. "We'll figure out what's wrong with Strawhat. Look, we know these things aren't unbeatable now...and I'm sure the others are finding answers for a cure even now."

"The others?" Chopper asked, puzzled. And then, "Oh, right...the others! Yeah, you're right, they _were_ looking for a clue, and Robin said other villages might know something about these things...yeah, I'm sure the others'll find answers, as long as they don't run...into...the..."

He ground to a halt, and the three of them exchanged frantic glances suddenly.

"They don't know the creatures aren't affected by sunlight, and they don't have the _Sunny_ to protect them," Brook said, sounding concerned. "And they don't have any music to stun them, either, since they don't have a musician with them!"

"They don't even know how to beat these creatures," Chopper moaned softly. "What if another one of them gets bitten? I don't know how I can help them if they can't find a cure—"

"We won't let it get that far," Franky said, slamming a metal fist into an equally metal palm suddenly. "We're going after them, and we're bringing backup with us."

"What about Luffy?" Chopper asked, anxious, as he glanced in the direction of his infirmary.

"We'll take him with us," Franky decided. "I can carry him. And now that we know the _Sunny_ hurts these things, we can defend him, too. If those Nightmares want to take a bite out of us," he finished grimly, "then we'll take the fight to _them_, and see how well they like it."

As one, the three of them nodded in agreement. The Straw Hat pirates were worried for their nakama, were determined to protect them, were angry—and now, they were also armed.

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><p>Every time I imagine Brook playing fast tunes like he used here, I always think of these:<p>

h t t p : / / w w w . youtube . com / watch?v =SSrH_oqnrl0&feature=related

h t t p : / / w w w . youtube . com / watch?v=t1IvsYF3QHA&feature=related

Srsly. You can't watch those and tell me it's _not_ freakin' awesome. I love Brook's old tunes to death too (yohohoho) but seeing him perform one of these would also be _wicked._

And a **fun fact**: the snake-arm critter was not, in fact, inspired by Robin's _Hana-Hana_ powers. My intial idea was to give a snake legs. And then I thought, "What if the _legs_, were _arms_," and just kinda rolled with it from there.

You know the drill...if you review, please make it thoughtful, yadda yadda...

~VelkynKarma


	6. Remia

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part six of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**A Quick Note:** It seems there was some confusion from my reviewers in the last chapter! Please note that Brook's stun ability has to do with _music in general_ and not at all with _Bink's Sake_ in particular. If you read the scene again, you'll notice he only played_ Bink's Sake_ once before moving on to other songs, which still stunned the Nightmares. Perhaps this will help with your theory-crafting :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

><p>"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."<br>~Marie Curie

* * *

><p>Nami and the others arrived at the new village, Remia, around five in the afternoon, approximately an hour and a half before the sun would start to set. The walk had taken a little longer than anticipated, which made the navigator extremely nervous. They had only a little sunlight left, the only thing they were fairly certain was keeping them safe, and by now there wouldn't be enough of it to reach the <em>Thousand Sunny<em> safely before nightfall. If she had known it would take this long to reach their next location, she might have insisted they try it tomorrow instead.

But no. Every time she considered doubling back and waiting for tomorrow, Luffy's pale, ashen face and nearly dead appearance floated into her mind, and she would immediately abandon the thought. Luffy wouldn't let something as silly as the dark stop him from rescuing his nakama if they needed him. Luffy would smash through _dozens_ of Nightmares in a blazing fury if the key to their rescue lay on the opposite side, dark or light, terrifying or no. Nami was no Luffy, and maybe she wouldn't be able to toss the evil, terrifying Nightmares aside with her bare hands, but she certainly could risk the dark to try and save her captain. The others seemed to feel the same way, and as the patches of light that made their way through the thick foliage above began slanting further and further with the sun's gradual setting, nobody, not even Usopp, suggested turning around.

Even so, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Remia came into view, and even the tension in Zoro's shoulders lessened by a fraction. As with the previous, unnamed town, the trees parted at the rough edges of the collection of broken-down buildings, allowing pure late-afternoon sunlight to flood down into the ramshackle streets. It felt safe and reassuring, and Nami felt herself relaxing almost enough to forget the edge of fear that had been with her for most of the day. Almost, but not quite.

Robin once again took the lead while the rest of them followed, searching out the next chapel that might hopefully offer them a cure to Luffy's situation. Remia was much bigger than the last village, and the crumbling buildings (what remained of them) were much larger, probably from having such close proximity to Asteria's one city. Nami had been keeping a rough map of the island in her head, and knew by now they were much closer to the center of the island, where the city—Oneirosa, Robin had called it—was reported to be. Whatever the reason, it made traversing Remia much more difficult, with more streets and more broken-down stone buildings to check.

As they traveled, Nami once again kept an eye out for Dreamshards, with Usopp and Sanji-kun walking next to her. The sniper put his sharp eyes to use helping her with the search as well, while Sanji-kun (at her insistence) kept a reluctant watch on Zoro, now trailing behind them, to make sure he didn't wander off. Big as Remia was, it would take forever to find him again if he did.

"Why do you suppose they call them Dreamshards?" Usopp asked absently, as he scuttled over to investigate something glinting in an old, crumbling doorway. It was only a section of minerals from the stonework, glittering in the afternoon sunlight, and with a disappointed look he came back to the rest of the group.

"Everything else here is named after dreams and nightmares," Sanji-kun pointed out. "Robin-chan was brilliant enough to point out to us that it's part of the religion. Why not the jewels too, then?" He considered thoughtfully. "I wonder if they had any dream foods, too?"

"Don't forget nightmares," Usopp said with a shiver.

Sanji-kun scowled. "Why would anyone ever make nightmare food?"

"What would nightmare food even _be?_" Nami asked, puzzled.

"I bet it tastes terrible, and gives you indigestion," Usopp offered helpfully. "Or makes you an insomniac, or makes you have bad dreams, or—"

"Enough!" Nami cut him off, since Sanji-kun was starting to look deeply annoyed at the thought of using food to create such horrible symptoms, and she didn't want him starting a fight and attracting trouble if they could help it. "Look, it doesn't really matter anyway, since unless Robin's found secret carvings of ancient Asterian recipes, we'll never actually know what they ate."

"I have not," Robin offered absently from the front of the group.

"There you go," Nami finished, and if Sanji-kun looked a little disappointed, at least he wasn't getting ready to start a fight anymore. "As for Dreamshards, who knows...and more importantly, who cares? Sanji-kun's probably right, they're likely just named as such because of the religion here, but it's not like that affects _us_. All that matters is they're gorgeous and worth a veritable _fortune_, and we need to find them!"

"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun said, practically swooning as he agreed with her.

But they saw no Dreamshards along their route in Remia, either, and twenty minutes later Robin had located the newest chapel that would hopefully provide answers for them. They piled in carefully and thoroughly searched the building, just in case, before settling down. Zoro, once again, stationed himself at the only entrance and exit, while Robin made a beeline for the chapel's altar and the rest of them sat around to wait.

"This will be difficult," the archaeologist said after a moment. "The glyphs are in better repair than the last chapel, suggesting the recorders here were more experienced in their construction. But the stone itself seems to be heavily in disrepair. This altar is cracked in many places. And this..." She frowned at the wall behind the altar, where she had told them engravings of the island's major events were found. Nami grimaced at the state of it. It was so old, pitted, and scratched up, it would be a wonder if Robin would be able to make out any of the symbols at all.

"I'm sure you can do it, Robin-chan," Sanji-kun offered in sing-song encouragement.

"I will do the best I can," she said in reply, and ran her fingers over the carvings on the altar as she set to work.

Fortunately, she seemed to be rapidly adapting to the unusual dialect and strange 'misspellings' she had told her nakama about earlier, and the translation went much faster than it did in the last village. Robin scribbled key information down in her notebook as she studied the altar, and only twenty minutes after she had begun, she stepped away from the worn stone table and returned to them with a frown.

"What is it?" Usopp asked curiously.

"More stories," Robin said slowly, "for the altar at least. The wall will take me a good deal of time because of its condition, and the stories contain a puzzle of their own. It will give you something to think on while I work."

"A puzzle?" Nami asked, intrigued despite herself, and Usopp and Sanji-kun looked up in interest as well.

"Something like it, at any rate," Robin agreed with a nod. "The altar had many of the stories from the previous chapel as well, regarding Nightmares and dreams, although I could only make out pieces of them through the damage. But there was another story listed here as well. It mentions a being known as the Queen of the Night, over and over." She consulted her notes as the rest of them leaned in, curious and strangely excited and fearful all at the same time, like children listening to a campfire story. "Supposedly, the Queen of the Night was born millennia ago, in the World of Dreams. She was dangerous and beautiful and deadly, and for a human being to see her almost certainly meant their death. But she was trapped in the World of Dreams and could not escape it on her own. Only if a human being faltered or failed in their dreams would they find her, but if they did, she would kill them slowly, draining their dreams from them." Lifting her eyes from her notes, she gave Nami and Sanji-kun significant glances, and the navigator knew almost immediately that the strange other version of the 'dream' glyph was once again in effect.

"But humans were taught to be more and more steadfast in their dreams," Robin continued, "and the Queen of the Night grew hungrier and hungrier. So she tore pieces of the darkness of night from herself, and molded them into servants; servants that understood her hunger and her desire and her fear, that were intimately connected to her, and that could help her find more things to feast upon in the World of Dreams. Even when a human in a steadfast dream entered her World, her servants could find them, if they crept carefully and searched hard, and they could steal from even the most powerful. All of them were equipped with different weapons and skills, in order to please their—" here Robin paused, considering. "The translation is unusual here," she finally told them, her voice slow, thoughtful. "Part of the puzzle. Before she is always referred to as Queen of the Night. After the creation of her servants, the title is still in place, but it is always underscored with the same unusual term from the last chapel—the 'heart-mind.' They become interchangeable as the text continues."

Usopp opened his mouth to say something, but Robin held up a hand for silence, and Sanji-kun kicked him (very lightly, for Sanji-kun) in the shin to make him be quiet, as though Robin's gesture hadn't been enough. "We can discuss when I am finished. Please listen further." Usopp, wincing and tearing slightly from the sharp pain now in his leg, nevertheless managed to nod in agreement, and the archeologist continued.

"All of the servants were equipped with different weaponry and skills to serve and feed their Queen—their heart-mind. She created Harvesters, capable of culling the herds of their dreams, stealing them away and taunting them to her for her to feed upon their fear and their despair. Because the Harvesters were single-minded and anxious to please, she created Shepherds to guide them, to make sure they did not lose themselves and bring themselves to destruction. Because she was desperate for strong, powerful dreamers and the void their dreams filled, she created Generals, to weaken them enough that they might be harvested. And because she considered herself powerful and majestic, she created for herself three Attendants, to cater to her whim and deliver and prepare whatever her lowest servants harvested for her to feast upon."

Robin raised her eyes to the group once more. "The text began to speak of ancient battles between names that I assume were the island's heroes, and these creatures, but the remainder of the altar's writings were too damaged to effectively make out. The puzzle, however, still stands."

"I'll say," Usopp scowled. "World of Dreams? Queen of the Night? Harvesters, Shepherds, Generals, Attendants? It all sounds like some old folklore to me, just like the last place."

"There's a little more to go on, though," Nami said thoughtfully. "Like...what was it again, the 'void their dreams filled,' for the Generals?" Robin nodded, and the navigator continued, "And these Harvester things didn't steal the dreams to feed to their queen. They stole them to taunt the person they stole from _closer_. Like holding a hostage, or putting down bait."

"Or food preparation," Sanji-kun added. The rest of the group gave him bewildered looks, but he said perfectly seriously, "You don't eat vegetables straight out of the soil. You wash them first. You don't eat meat as soon as it's cut off the animal. You need to cook it or you'll get sick."

"You think these things get sick if they eat dreams?" Usopp asked.

Sanji-kun shrugged. "Can't be sure yet," he admitted. "For all we know, it could just be flavor. Maybe dreams taste bad to Nightmares and they're just removing that first. I'm just thinking of last night...that Nightmare didn't even_ try_ to eat Luffy until it poisoned him or stole his dream or whatever the hell else it could be happened first. It bent over Luffy again after that, but me and Zoro intervened before it actually _could_ eat." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the swordsman still in the doorway—Zoro was peering out into the late afternoon streets with a frown on his face and one hand on his white katana, although they knew he was still listening to the entire conversation quietly.

"It would make sense," Robin agreed slowly. "Both the text here and in the last village were in agreement that nightmares and dreams stand in opposition to each other. Perhaps it is simply natural to remove the troublesome dream before it can feed."

"That's another thing," Usopp said. He looked nervous, afraid of whatever was on his mind, but deadly serious all the same. "What if the one that attacked Luffy _wasn't_ going to eat him?"

There was a sharp _click_ behind them all as Usopp finished, and everyone, with the exception of Robin, jumped suddenly. Looking over her shoulder hastily, Nami saw that Zoro had come to a stand, and an inch of steel was visible between the white sword's sheath and hilt as their swordsman popped it open with his thumb. "What, what is it?" she asked, fighting to control her fluttering heart—this island, of all places, was a _terrible_ spot to be startled at.

"I—" Zoro frowned. The sword was still partially unsheathed, and he had his other hand on the hilt now, even as he jerked his head back and forth and peered out onto the streets. Sanji-kun was on his feet as well now, looking ready for combat, but after a moment Zoro shook his head and growled under his breath, "Nothing. Sorry."

"What...jumping at shadows, marimo?" Sanji-kun said scathingly, but Nami could see his face was still a little too pale, and he sat down too slowly, like he was still expecting trouble. Something had unnerved him.

"Shut up, dartboard," Zoro snapped back, but his retort, too, seemed out of habit, and he sounded almost frustrated. "I was not. I thought—no. Never mind. It's nothing."

"You sure?" Sanji-kun sneered. "Not gonna start crying when the wind rustles the trees or the stone starts creaking?"

"Dammit, curly-brow," Zoro snarled back, "It's nothing! Nothing happened." The furious exclamation seemed to surprise even Sanji-kun, and he closed his mouth with an abrupt _click_, cutting off whatever new retort he'd thought up. He remained tense, whipping out a cigarette with a frown on his face. And while Zoro grudgingly slid the white katana fully back into its sheath, he remained standing in the doorway, staring out into the streets grimly.

"Ah...what...what was it you were talking about, Usopp?" Nami said slowly, trying to push some of the tension out of the way and bring the conversation back on track. Seeing both Zoro _and_ Sanji-kun unnerved was enough to unsettle anybody, least of all her.

"I...um..." The sniper started, looking just as confused and anxious as Nami felt. As he spoke, though, his voice gained strength, warming back into the topic. "Well, I was saying...the thing last night. What if it wasn't trying to eat Luffy at all? What if it was just planning to...I don't know...take him away instead?"

"Why would you say that?" Nami asked, confused. From what she had seen last night—though it admittedly hadn't been very good lighting—the thing had _definitely_ bent to sink its teeth into their prone captain, once Luffy had been knocked out.

"I was just thinking," Usopp said slowly. "The story Robin read us talked about _harvesters,_ like they were specially designed to retrieve food. Like collecting grain, or picking apples."

"You're calling Luffy an apple?" Sanji-kun said with a raised eyebrow, but he looked thoughtful all the same.

"Well, I mean, I guess," Usopp said, shifting a little under Sanji-kun's scrutiny. "The point is, it sounded like these harvester things were supposed to go out and get food for this Queen or whatever, and bring it back. So they go out and find food, and maybe clean it off or make it taste better," he said, with a nod to their cook at his earlier idea, "but then what? They'd have to bring it back to their master. Maybe that's what it was trying to do, but Zoro and Sanji stopped it before it could."

"If that is the case," Robin stated, with remarkable calm considering the grisliness of the conversation, "then I have a feeling the Nightmares will continue trying to retrieve their meal. It would do them no good to prepare something for their Queen and then ignore it completely."

Nami, Sanji-kun, and Usopp exchanged grim looks. If that was the case, then Luffy was still in danger—as were Chopper, Franky and Brook, who were still back on the_ Sunny_ with their unconscious captain.

"We have to warn them," Usopp said. "If those things still want Luffy...they'll all be in danger. And the longer they stay in place, the easier it will be to corner them and knock _them_ out too."

Nami shook her head. "It's too far," she said, "And we've been gone all day. We definitely won't make it back before nightfall hits, and the Nightmare will probably attack when it gets darker. We'll just have to hope they can hold out. And anyway, in a worst-case scenario, they can always take the _Sunny_ out onto the ocean and wait there. These Nightmares have never been seen off of this island, so they must not be able to swim."

"Indeed," Robin agreed. "There is nothing we can do to help the others, and as it is we have our own problems. If Usopp is right, then that makes the spider creature you saw last night a Harvester. If that is the case, then there are at least three other kinds of Nightmares on this island, not to mention the Queen herself. And we are currently less than an hour away from the time that they will become stronger and more mobile, directly in the middle of their territory, without any understanding of how to kill them." Her voice still sounded remarkably calm, stating the dangers as though reading a shopping list, but the purse to her lips and hardness to her eyes said otherwise.

There was silence for a few moments, before Usopp abruptly leapt up and started running around in a panic, apparently only just beginning to understand the sheer danger of their predicament. Nami shot to her feet as well, shivering despite the fact that it was warm enough in the building, and wrapped her arms around herself. "Bad," she gasped, "This is really, _really_ bad."

"Nami-san!" Sanji-kun had jumped to his feet as well when she did, and waved his arms in front of her placatingly. "Don't be afraid, Nami-san, I'll defend you with my very life!"

"Hopefully," Robin said slowly, "It will not come to that. Though perhaps it is time to consider a strategy for nightfall. Perhaps fortifying a building to use as shelter, that we might better defend ourselves."

Usopp was still yammering in a panic. Nami covered her ears with her hands and hissed, "Sanji-kun, shut him up! Robin's right, we need a plan, and I can't think like this!" Sanji-kun obligingly did so, kicking some sense into the sniper's head (literally), and after a few moments Usopp collapsed into a shivering, but thankfully quieter, heap.

"Robin's right," Nami repeated slowly. "We need a good defense. Someplace with all four walls and a roof, and a way to defend all entrances." She glanced around at the chapel, and said slowly, "We could stay here."

"It is one of the more intact buildings," Robin agreed. "The people of this island regarded their religion highly, no doubt. If we remain here, it will give me more time to study the writings, as well."

Nami nodded, plan slowly formulating in her mind. "There's only one entrance and exit," she said, gesturing to where Zoro still stood. "We can take turns keeping watch, if Zoro needs to rest. I'm pretty sure he won't mind sleeping by the door, just in case. Right, Zoro?" she added, raising her voice to address the swordsman on the other side of the room.

"Fine," he growled back at her, his voice unusually testy. He still looked tense, his shoulders and back rigid, his hands gripping sword hilts like steel vises, and when he answered her he didn't even bother to turn around and look her in the eye. His gazed remained fixed on the streets outside, and his head jerked back and forth sharply, like he was looking for something.

"Don't take that tone with Nami-san," Sanji-kun ordered, his voice a low growl. Zoro didn't even bother to respond, which was more than a little unnerving. Zoro _always_ rose to Sanji-kun's bait. The fact that he was too distracted—or perhaps too focused—to respond now was a little frightening.

Sanji-kun seemed a little puzzled too, but after regarding Zoro quizzically for a moment he finally shook his head and looked away. "There's enough food in the packs for dinner," he said instead to the rest of his crew-mates. "I didn't know how long we would be out today, so I packed for both meals. If we split it up we should have enough for a meal now, and breakfast tomorrow. We can pick more up at the _Sunny_ after that."

"Good thinking," Nami agreed (to Sanji-kun's wiggling delight). "Go ahead and set up dinner now, I'm a little hungry and we could all use a meal." He did so cheerfully, digging into their packs with enthusiasm.

"I think I shall return to my translating in the meantime," Robin decided, rising smoothly to her feet. "There is still the wall to decipher." And she strode off, heading to the section of wall directly behind the altar to begin her studies.

The packed dinner was ready fairly quickly. It wasn't a hot meal, which Nami would have loved, but at least Sanji-kun had made something edible that still tasted delicious when cold. He brought some to Robin at the wall, cooing compliments and praises the entire time, and then gruffly called for Zoro to come grab his share as well. Zoro ignored him, and didn't budge.

"Hey," Sanji-kun snarled. "You even listening to me, marimo? I said—"

"Shut up," Zoro hissed, his voice a sharp rasp, like the sound of a sword leaving its sheath. The intensity of the order—and it was definitely an _order_, as the technical acting-captain—was so strong and startling that Sanji-kun, once again, fell silent with a blink.

"Fascinating," Robin said suddenly from the other side of the room. "If I can just—"

Zoro's head jerked up, and for the first time since they arrived he turned to look into the building. Then he was moving towards them suddenly, a blur of black, white, red and green as he came at them with bewildering speed. For one startled moment Nami thought he was attacking them, and she couldn't even begin to fathom why. The writings said nothing about mind control, just stealing dreams—

But Zoro's hands didn't fly to his swords as he charged at them. Instead, he reached out, snagged Nami by the collar of her jacket and Usopp by his overall straps, and dragged them away from the altar while roaring, "Robin, _move now!_"

Nami gave an undignified yelp as she was hauled backwards by their ridiculously strong swordsman like a sack of potatoes, and Sanji-kun yelled angrily, "Damnit, marimo, what the hell do you think you're doing—"

There was a crack, a groan of rock, and then the back wall of the temple seemed to explode inward, sending chunks of stone and clouds of dust pelting towards them.

Nami's eyes widened in horror, and almost immediately she stopped fighting Zoro's grip; beside her, Usopp had gone limp with terror, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at where the wall _had_ been. Sanji-kun was next to them, mouth still open in the act of reaming Zoro out for his improper actions, but almost immediately his angry expression and tone vanished, replaced by frantic worry. "Robin-chan! _Robin-chan!_"

"Here," came a coughing gasp, as she darted out of the clouds of dust. "Run, quickly—"

There was a rumbling noise coming from the back of the temple now, interspersed with short, sharp, booming barks, and Nami decided to take Robin's voice to heart. Whatever was causing that noise, she was sure she didn't want to run into it. She tried to stagger to her feet—a process made difficult, since Zoro still had a grip on her collar, and he was taller than she was even with her heels on. The swordsman was already hauling her and Usopp towards the door he'd been guarding only moments ago, with Robin hot on his heels, and Sanji-kun—idiotically chivalrous even at a time like this—bringing up the rear to make sure both girls got out safely.

The barking behind them got louder, and a new sound accompanied it: a scraping noise, like something sharp being dragged over stone.

"Thank you for your warning, Swordsman-san," Robin said, still coughing on the dust, as they ran. "I am sure it would have caught me if not for that."

"Thank me when we're out of here," Zoro growled, still dragging two of his crew mates after him. He hit the door first, and Nami breathed a sigh of relief at the exit—one that quickly turned to a moan of fear.

Two of the spider-Nightmares, the Harvesters, waited outside on the streets for them. One was missing a length of its own tail, but it looked no less terrifying, or less dangerous, than its kin. Both clicked sets of mandibles curiously, excitedly, and gave soft, hissing screams as they started to pace forward.

"Damn," Zoro hissed, eyeing the newfound obstacle. Without missing a beat, he slid to a halt and shoved both Usopp and Nami (who was starting to feel quite disoriented, getting dragged around like this all the time) behind himself, before drawing his swords and standing defensively between the spider-cats and the rest of his crew. Likewise, Sanji-kun spun around to face back into the temple, attempting to defend their rear from whatever was approaching from within.

"Intriguing," Robin said quietly. Nami and Usopp, sandwiched along with the archaeologist between their two top fighters, gave her stunned looks. She met their eyes—her gaze was wary, grim, but not terrified, not yet anyway—and shrugged. "Don't you think it odd?" she said instead. "That they devised a trap for us like this? It's almost as though we've been herded."

_Herded..._

"You don't mean..." Nami began, horrified, and glanced back into the temple's confines as best as she could around Sanji-kun's bristling, tense body.

"I do," Robin said, her voice dark. "I believe we are about to meet the Harvester's masters from the legend. The Shepherd."

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><p><strong>Fun fact:<strong> My written works seem to affect my real life status in ways entirely related to the subject matter at hand. For example, while writing _Mindshattered_ I inexplicably lost ten pounds despite not drastically changing diet or exercise plans. For _Asteria Nightmare_ I started having really _bizarre_ dreams when I started writing it. Not quite nightmares, but definitely unsettling. Well...I guess this means I just have to avoid writing about anything fatal then, right? Eheh heh...

You guys know the drill. Thoughtful reviews if you decide to leave'em at all, yadda yadda...

~VelkynKarma


	7. Downside

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part seven of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** You guys seen the first episode after the timeskip yet? Aw man, it's so cool to see everybody with their new looks, animated!

**Note Note:** I love you guys. I really do. You're too good to me. :D

**Note Note Note:** We've got a newcomer!

h t t p : / / tinypic . com / r / qzp0gj / 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"Not long ago you'd find the answers<br>Were so crystal clear  
>Within a day you find yourself<br>Living in constant fear

Can you look at yourself now?  
>Can you look at yourself?<em><br>You. Can't. Win. This. Fight._"  
>~<em>Welcome To the Family, <em>Avenged Sevenfold

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><p>As one the crew members froze, huddled in a tight knot as they faced the creatures from hell that were pacing ever closer from both directions.<p>

Nami's mind worked frantically to try and find some way to escape their precarious situation, but no matter how she looked at it, nothing presented itself. Zoro and Sanji-kun faced outward, forming a makeshift wall of defense with their own bodies between the creatures and rest of the Straw Hats. While it was reassuring to know their strongest fighters were already prepared for battle and had locked themselves firmly between her and the enemy, Nami realized nevertheless that standing in the way was all they _could_ do. Neither swordsman nor cook could afford to move from their guarding stances lest they open the way for the Nightmares to get at the weaker crew members. And while it would make sense for the three of them to get out of the way, so that Zoro and Sanji-kun could be allowed a full range of movement, the very fact that their defenders were locked in place also trapped the crew members they were protecting: Nami, Robin and Usopp were wedged in the doorway, with no way to get safely around their nakama and not risk attracting the monsters.

As if things weren't bad enough, the horrible scraping noise from behind them, within the temple, grew still louder. Nami thought she could now hear a rhythmic _thud-scrape_ of what she assumed were footfalls as well—feet with very long nails or claws by the sounds of it—although it was still hidden in the dust and gloom of the destroyed building.

Then another _thud-scrape_ passed, and Sanji-kun gagged behind her, rasping, "Ugh, smells like _rot_ and—what the hell is _that!_"

Nami managed to tear her gaze away from the spider-Nightmares long enough to glance around Sanji-kun, and resisted the urge to vomit as the overpowering stench assailed her nostrils...and again as she spotted the Shepherd.

The creature was huge, at least twice the size of a normal human, and so tall that its shoulders and head would graze the small arch of the temple even when bent double. Its torso was almost human, albeit shadow-black in color, but any resemblance to humanity ended there. On its thick neck a jackal-like head perched, with enormous canine ears and six red-gleaming eyes placed impossibly on its narrow skull. Its legs were hunched and twisted, again vaguely dog-like, but only if said dog had been forced to walk crouched on its hind paws. Its feet ended in wicked claws, and like the Harvesters it too had a long, muscular tail that ended in something like a scorpion's stinger. But worst of all were its arms. These were long, strangely disjointed, and oddly thin, but at the elbow they suddenly extended into bony protrusions that formed long, curled scythe blades. Vaguely, Nami could see where the creature might have gained the name 'Shepherd;' the bony scythe-blades had several unusual twirling protrusions that were reminiscent of a shepherd's crook.

The creature gave a short bark and took a step forward with another _thud-scrape_ as its enormous foot-claws dragged over broken stone. The much deeper, more insistent scraping noise came next, as it dragged its scythe-arms—too long for its body—along the ground after itself. Another wave of the horrific stench seemed to emanate from the creature as it moved, so strong Nami actually felt involuntary tears come to her eyes as it hit her. The Shepherd's six red eyes dropped to the small huddle of pirates, and with a low, throaty rumble its progress became more insistent.

"Stay away from them!" Sanji-kun snarled, but while the warning was heartfelt and certainly promised pain, the threat was lessened by the fact that he gagged on the stench of the creature as he spoke. Poor Sanji-kun, Nami thought with a grimace—since he worked with subtle spices and scents in the kitchen all the time, his sense of smell was second only to Chopper's, and right about now this had to be _killing_ him.

But despite his gagging and obvious discomfort, the cook didn't budge an inch. Instead he shifted his body subtly, dropping into a firmer crouch as he readied himself to attack if the creature came too much closer.

The Shepherd came to a stop and seemed to consider the cook for a moment. One enormous canine ear dropped absently, flicked almost in puzzlement, as if it wasn't used to its prey trying to threaten it back. Then, with what Nami was almost _sure_ was an annoyed sigh, the creature narrowed its eyes, lifted its jackal-like head, and uttered three short staccato barks.

Almost immediately, the dull hissing behind Nami turned to more feral, hungry shrieks, and with a sharp _clack_ of mandibles and a furious clicking of far too many spindly legs, the navigator felt more than saw the two spider Nightmares charge.

Usopp gave a shriek of fear as Nami spun around, raising her Clima-Tact in a panic, and even Zoro let out a curse. The swordsman was trying to shift to intercept both Harvester attacks at the same time, as both of the creatures charged towards the crew, but there was no way for him to block_ two_ of the enormous beasts.

_"Dieciseis Fleur!"_ Robin called, arms crossed, and while her voice was as calm as ever her eyes were narrowed in determination. Sixteen of her arms sprouted from the ground beneath the smaller of the two Harvesters, and every pair of arms reached out to grab hold of one of it's spindly spider legs or twisted cat-insect appendages. The creature ground to an abrupt halt with a screech as it found itself unable to move further, and while the sharp spines and claws of the creature's limbs dug into more than a few of Robin's disembodied arms, causing her to wince in pain, she held on gamely. The creature screamed in fury and tried to bend to bite the arms and free itself, but lacking a neck and the flexible body of a pure cat, it was unable to reach her.

Zoro grunted a rough acknowledgement as the archaeologist effectively removed his choice from him, and charged forward to meet the second Harvester head on. It hissed at him furiously—Nami noted somehow in the haze of battle that this was the one missing the tail, the one Zoro had already fought—and crashed into the swordsman with a wordless, inhuman war-cry, bringing both sets of mandibles and two raised spider legs to bear to stab at its opponent. Zoro blocked them somehow, barely, slashed out with his swords in retaliation. Once again, the katana in his hands clacked off the creature's armored body ineffectively, while the sword clenched in his teeth severed one of the reaching mandibles from the creature's gaping maw as he deftly dodged the monster's attempt to snatch him up in its jaws.

There was a furious rumbling from behind, and a crashing, thudding noise. Sanji-kun screamed, _"Run!"_ at the top of his lungs, and seconds later Zoro's muffled voice ordered loudly, _"Scatter!"_

Nami didn't hesitate. Robin's and Zoro's work had opened up a hole in their defensive prison, giving them one opening to run. She, Usopp, and Robin—arms still crossed in concentration—darted out of the confining doorway, and Sanji-kun charged after them seconds later, clutching one hand to his left shoulder, where red liquid was already seeping over his fingers.

For a moment, the navigator thought they'd make it. Even caught unawares, Robin's defense had proved unexpectedly effective, and Zoro had already managed to cut one of the Nightmares once more. The things weren't invincible, for all the stories implied, and they'd be able to escape.

But her hopes were dashed seconds later. Robin gave a sudden sharp gasp of pain and staggered sideways, clutching her right forearm, where a vicious gash had suddenly appeared. Sanji-kun, running behind them, caught her hastily and pushed her back upright, but before he could even inquire into the archaeologist's health there was a furious screaming behind them, and the ground began to rumble as an enormous monster thundered their way.

Afraid of what she would see, Nami looked over her shoulder.

One of the Harvesters, the same one Robin had trapped for a few moments, was charging towards them, still shrieking at the top of its undoubtedly mismatched lungs. Its scorpion tail dripped blood, and Nami realized with a start of disgust and horror that it had probably slashed Robin to force her to release it. It was now charging straight for the archeologist, blind hunger and fury evident in even it's many bulbous eyes.

"Zoro!" Usopp yelled suddenly. "Crap, don't—no!"

Nami glanced at the sniper running beside her—or where he _had_ been running beside her, a moment ago. Usopp had slid to a stop, staring in horror back down the street they were charging up. While it was difficult to see around the elephantine Harvester rocketing towards them, Nami could still see exactly what had him so worried. Zoro had given the order for everyone to run, and might have even tried to do just that himself, but he hadn't gotten far in the attempt. The Shepherd had moved rapidly to cut off the swordsman's escape down the other end of the street, standing boldly in the swordsman's way with both of its bony scythe-arms raised. And the second Harvester, now scuttling a bit awkwardly with one of its four purely spider legs missing, smoking at the joint—another attack from Zoro, no doubt—was nevertheless convening on the cut off swordsman's position with a keening, hungry victory wail.

_"Sanji-kun!"_ Nami shouted frantically. The cook was the closest to their endangered swordsman, and the only one who stood a chance of rescuing him, if it could even be done—

But Sanji-kun was already moving, a furious grimace on his face as he charged at the first Harvester—the one coming for _them._

For a brief moment, Nami _almost_ thought that maybe he'd gone crazy. He had to know by now that his attacks against the creature were ineffectual; nothing he'd tried last night had damaged the spider Nightmare, after all. And even if he managed to kill it, it still wouldn't do anything about the two Nightmares that were about to rip their swordsman apart, or worse, poison him the same way they had Luffy—

"Not on my watch," Sanji-kun snarled, closing in on the unearthly beast with terrifying rapidity, and then he leapt into the air. _"Mouton Shot!"_

As before, the attack had no damaging effect on the Nightmare. However, unlike his first time battling the creatures, Sanji-kun seemed to have some idea of what he was dealing with this time—and, Nami realized with sudden enthusiasm, had placed the attack not to damage, or even to stun, but to _move_ the creature.

The Harvester gave a surprised screech as Sanji-kun's kick rocketed it backwards, down the street. The cook's aim had been perfect; the first spider-creature smashed into the second, sending both crashing to the dirt. Zoro dodged away from the flying abominations and took the opportunity to launch a furious sword-assault at the Shepherd in his way. The dog-like Nightmare, surprised that its two charges had been so quickly repelled, actually fell back several steps.

"He'll never make it out of there," Nami said with a frown. Despite his sword-attacks forcing the Shepherd backwards, Zoro still wasn't managing to wound the creature seriously; and _both_ of the Harvesters, though groaning and chittering dazedly, were already starting to stagger to their many legs. Sanji-kun had provided an excellent momentary delay, but if they didn't act now they were going to lose Zoro anyway.

"Then we must help while we can," Robin said grimly, and though her arm was still bleeding she crossed her hands in front of her chest and called, _"Veinte Fleur!"_

Twenty arms sprouted this time, targeting the same Harvester that she had held before. This time, in addition to grasping each of the creature's limbs, two extra pairs of arms also clasped its tail, tightening sharply to try and hold the dangerous weapon at bay. The creature shrieked angrily and began bucking all of its limbs wildly, and Robin grit her teeth with the exertion of trying to hold such a mighty creature for so long.

"Yes, Robin-chan!" Sanji-kun called, voice adoring, before narrowing his eyes and charging back down the street. And though Nami was less than enthusiastic about running back _towards_ such terrifying creatures—they looked like _spiders_, damn it, she_ hated_ spiders—she nevertheless raised her Clima-Tact and ran after their cook to get in range, with Usopp following and screaming bloody murder the whole damn way.

The tail-less Nightmare had recovered enough to start charging for their swordsman once again, screeching hungrily as it rocketed towards his currently undefended back, and Zoro, caught in a furious blade battle with the Shepherd—and defending, barely, against both of its scythe-arms, its jaws, _and_ it's slashing tail—would have no chance to protect himself from it. But Nami, unexpectedly inspired by Sanji-kun's battle insight, planned to put a stop to that. She doubted her physical attacks would do any good against the Nightmares, but there were_ other_ ways to deal with them, as well.

Moving quickly, she shoved the electric pole of her Clima-Tact into her belt before twisting the other two sections together into a flat, oblong shape. Still charging down the street towards the three Nightmares—_crazy, I've got to be_ crazy _to be going towards them like this!_—she drew her arm back, took careful aim, and yelled at the top of her lungs, _"Cyclone Tempo!"_

The folded metal poles flew true, spinning over Sanji-kun's head towards the unrestrained Harvester. Nami had added a slight arc to the throw, and now the poles curved ever so slightly in the air before smashing down with unerring surety into the strange cat-spider's side.

There was a sharp _clack_ of metal on armor as the Nightmare's chitinous covering negated the force of the attack. Although Nami had expected it, she found herself vaguely disappointed all the same. Fortunately, her attack was about more than just physical impact—it was about the weather, and there was a big gust coming that creature's way.

Seconds after the impact, the air beside the creature seemed to explode outward, as the buildup and collision of hot and cold air took effect and a furious whirlwind was formed. The Nightmare screeched in surprise as, for the second time in only a few minutes, it was picked up and thrown back by the sheer force of collision, smashing into one of the smaller stone huts on the other side of the street. Nami couldn't help but grin to herself as the poles of the Clima-Tact, propelled by the cyclone winds they had formed, were kicked backward and returned to her hands. It had been a perfect shot, excellent execution, and thanks to her skilled prediction and careful aim the wind blast hadn't even hit her nakama.

"That was excellent, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun cheered delightedly over his shoulder. He was halfway down the street towards the Nightmares and Zoro, but had paused long enough to congratulate her. How he justified pausing in mid-battle like this_ all the time_ to coo over her or Robin was beyond the navigator, but she let it pass for now.

"Look out!" came Robin's sharp warning from behind, and seconds later the tailed Nightmare charged back into the streets, unrestrained. "It broke my grip," the archaeologist added apologetically, and her voice was rasping, as though pained. "They are quite strong."

The larger Nightmare was charging towards them now, lashing its tail furiously as its clawed mismatched legs propelled it forward. Panicked, Nami stumbled back several steps at its speed and tried to raise the heat and cold poles to line up a shot—

But Usopp was faster.

_"Atlas Comet!"_ the sniper yelled, and fired a large _something_ from the Kabuto in his hands. The shot split abruptly into four, trailing smoke, and all four shots crashed into the approaching Nightmare with stunning accuracy. Nami covered her face with one arm as the shots exploded, two on the creature's head at its eyes, and another two at the joints of its spindly spider legs.

Explosions would break even stone or steel, if properly applied. Usopp had to have done _something_ to it, Nami thought grimly, as she lowered her hand, reconnected her Clima-Tact, and raised it at the ready.

But when the smoke cleared a few moments later, it was to everyone in the crew's obvious dismay. The creature had stopped charging forward at them, and looked agitated, clicking its mandibles and legs furiously. But its bulbous, glittering eyes remained perfectly intact, and neither its legs nor body had taken any sustaining damage.

_Dammit,_ Nami thought in frustration. _Are these things invulnerable to everything that should normally kill a living being?_ No, that wasn't right, she decided after a moment. Zoro had been able to cut them before. He still was, too, she noted when she glanced over in the swordsman's direction. Zoro was still engaged in a furious duel with the Shepherd, and while he was bleeding from more than a few cuts, she could see the creature was injured as well, emitting dark, oily blood of its own from half a dozen sword slashes that evaporated into the air like smoke. They weren't _completely_ invulnerable—but with the Nightmares resisting Sanji-kun's bone-crushing kicks, most of Zoro's sword attacks, and now even Usopp's explosions, they might as well have been. What was so special about that one sword of Zoro's that made _it_ able to cut things when nothing else could?

_I'll ask him if we live through this_, Nami thought grimly.

The Harvester charging at them_ had_ stopped, though. Even if it had taken no lasting damage from the explosive attack, something about Usopp's explosions had confused it enough to make it halt in place, and to continue that spine-chilling _click-click_ of its mandibles as it regarded them warily from the cast-off shadow of one of the old stone buildings.

_Shadow..._

Stunned, Nami suddenly found her mind going a million miles a second as it pulled together all the details she had noticed subconsciously, arranging them in a neat pattern. The creatures were out in the light. By Nami's reckoning, there was maybe a half hour of solid daylight left before the sun really started to set, but the creatures were still attacking them despite that. That meant these creatures were nothing like the shadow-zombies they'd met on Thriller Bark—if they entered the sunlight, they wouldn't disintegrate, or burst into flames, or anything else of that ilk.

But Nami_ did_ notice with sudden, startling clarity that even if the sun wouldn't kill them, they still avoided it when they could. The spider-cat Nightmares had been continually scrabbling between the shadows cast by buildings, and had ambushed them from shadows near the temple's doorway as well. And the Shepherd, the navigator now saw with a grimace, had probably _intentionally_ lost ground against Zoro, just so that it could be backed into the cooler shadows cast by the old stone huts.

_Maybe it's not that they fear the light_, Nami thought with a frown. _Maybe it's just that they're stronger in the dark. Nightmares are things that come at_ night _after all...maybe they're just so used to that, that hunting by day is more difficult._

Which explained, suddenly, why the Nightmare charging them had frozen. It was still in its patch of shadow, but the way it twitched and clicked and waited, it was almost as if it was playing its next move defensively—as though it didn't know how they were going to act next.

_As if it can't see us._

"Usopp! Robin! Sanji-kun!" Nami shouted to the others. "The gunpowder flash—the ones that hit its eyes, it stunned it, at least for a little bit. I don't think it sees as well in the light as the dark, so blind it with light!"

"Understood," Robin said, summoning another two dozen arms to bind the temporarily blinded Nightmare in place once again. "Longnose-kun, I'll hold it for you. Hurry!"

"Got it!" Usopp said, and though his voice shook slightly, he raised the Kabuto once more, taking aim. "You guys go ahead, get the other one!" he added, gesturing down the street towards the tail-less Nightmare that Nami had hit.

Nami nodded in agreement. "Let's go, Sanji-kun!" she ordered sharply, pointing with her Clima-Tact towards the second monster, which was once again recovering and seemed adamant on feeding. "If we can just keep them stunned long enough for Zoro to finish off that Shepherd and kill them, we might make it out of this alive!"

"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun agreed immediately, although he looked more determined now, concentrating on his part of the battle as they charged past the restrained Harvester down the street. Both of them—and Robin and Usopp, too, Nami knew—understood the direness of the battle. They might have found a few minor advantages, but most of those were only temporary, and they didn't know how long their momentary gain in the battle would last. Escaping from the fight would be ideal, but the creatures would obviously not let that happen—which meant all they could do was try to hold out and delay the things long enough to let Zoro bring their one working weapon into play.

"Cover your eyes, Robin!" came Usopp's quick yelp from behind. Nami resisted the urge to turn around, and was thankful for it a second later, when a burst of light that sent her shadow reeling forward and flickering wildly. The restrained Harvester behind them gave a surprised shriek, and Nami guessed that Usopp had employed his Flash Dial. Hopefully her theory was right.

And now it was her turn to produce a little light of her own. Explosions and Dials weren't the only sources of such things; the weather had a few ways of shedding light on the world as well.

"Sanji-kun!" she ordered, as she broke the Clima-Tact down and gripped two of the poles carefully. "Keep it distracted for just a few moments!"

The cook's response was not made in words, but in the rapid spinning of his body as he prepared for some of his most deadly moves. The spinning halted just a few moments later, and Sanji-kun's right leg was suddenly burning like overheated embers, ready to ignite with only a breath of air.

He charged down the street towards the creature, and Nami hastily set to work; she couldn't afford to waste time. Bringing the spheres on the two Clima-Tact poles in her hands together, she activated them and watched with determination as a small but dense cloud began to form around the orbs. It roiled with life in mere seconds, the dark wisps of cloud growing more and more opaque as it grew larger and larger and began to crackle with energy.

_"Dark Cloud Tempo,"_ she murmured to herself, as the creation grew still larger. It needed a few more moments, and so, while keeping the pole ends together in front of her, and being very careful not to touch the cloud itself with her body, she glanced up to check on her nakama's progress.

A quick glance told her Robin and Usopp were working together quite efficiently as a team, one restraining while the other launched a series of blinding attacks. The spider-cat was creeping back down the street towards Nami, Sanji-kun, and Zoro, trying to both escape its captors and attack the greater collection of prey, but Robin and Usopp were providing enough of an interference to keep its progress halting at least.

Zoro was still caught in a furious battle with the Shepherd, and Nami frowned at the rasping pant that she could hear from the swordsman even at this distance. With a grimace she noted that he was curled over slightly, as though reacting to a bad chest injury, and realized with a quiet mental groan that he was probably suffering from the horrible wounds he'd received at Thriller Bark, barely a week and a half ago. Even so, the swordsman gave the fight everything he had, his sword blades moving in a barely perceived blur as he blocked the dog-like Nightmare's slashing scythe arms and stinger tail. They looked fairly even, and while it was definitely a good thing Zoro wasn't overmatched just yet, it was going to be tricky to get him out of the fight long enough to kill the Harvesters with his sword.

But most pressing for Nami's concerns was Sanji-kun, who was leaping into the air over the tail-less Nightmare and swinging his flame-encased leg down with a roar of_ "Flambage Shot!"_

Fire spurted as the attack hit, and the force behind the blow was so strong the Harvester was actually smashed down to its belly on the old cobblestones, all seven and a half legs splaying out awkwardly as it thudded down. The Nightmare wailed in surprise, and while the flames seemed to roll off its armored back without so much as a tiny ember setting the creature alight, the combined bright flash of fire and the concussive force seemed to stun it once again.

"Damn," the cook scowled, as he landed on the thing's back, and then hastily leapt off it as its legs began to shudder and twitch in a drunken attempt to raise itself to its feet once more. "Doesn't anything work on these stupid shitty spiders?" Another spindly leg twitched, and Sanji-kun shuddered in disgust as he took a step backward, one leg hissing on the cobblestones.

Nami grimaced in agreement—both with the frustration, and the disgust—and checked the Dark Cloud's progress. It was massive now, and sparking angrily, threatening to discharge the electricity stored within at any moment. Any larger, and it would endanger herself and her allies before she could use it to harm the creatures.

Drawing both Clima-Tact ends out of the cloud, she stepped around it carefully and bolted some distance away, reattaching all three poles as she did. "Good job, Sanji-kun!" she yelled to the cook, as she finally slid to a stop at her chosen point, Clima-Tact ready. "Now kick it over here, between me and the cloud!"

Sanji-kun looked gleeful at her praise, and then grinned at her in sudden understanding when he spotted the Dark Cloud. Despite his constant love-sick puppy act, Nami had to admit that he was pretty smart, when it came to it, and he knew exactly what she was up almost immediately. With a sharp call of, "Right away, Nami-san!" he leapt agilely onto the Harvester's back—it was starting to recover now, its movements less dazed, and had many more of its legs underneath it once again—and then jumped again to its other side. Nami couldn't see him behind the creature's bulk, but she _did_ hear the loud _"Mouton Shot!"_ that came next, and glimpsed the burst of flame as the significantly powered up attack sent the wounded spider-cat careening down the street.

Directly between the roiling Dark Cloud and the sparking, electrified end of her Clima-Tact.

Grinning fiercely, Nami timed the thrown creature's trajectory and waited. As it drew closer, she twisted the end of the weather-influenced staff in a swinging arc and said triumphantly, "Too bad for you, but a thunderstorm is no place for spiders and bugs. You'll only get washed away—or worse. _Thunder Lance Tempo!_"

She closed her eyes out of habit as the powerful force of electricity in the Dark Cloud, suddenly sensing an escape, came rushing towards the electrified end of her Clima-Tact with a furious crack. The lightning she had created was exactly the same as those from the real storms she spent her life observing, and just as in those real storms, it was completely and utterly uncaring of who and what it went through to reach its intended target—and that included horrible, twisted Nightmares that never should have existed in the first place. Nami heard the thing shriek and saw the brilliant flash even through her closed eyelids, and a second later a dull _thud_ reverberated through her sandals as the thing hit the ground.

She opened her eyes.

The tail-less Harvester was on its back, smoking from the thunder blast, with its seven-and-a-half legs curled and twitching above it just like a real spider in its death throes. Nami shuddered at the sight, but felt exhilarated when she realized that her attack had been so effective. Perhaps the degree of light was the key, and lightning was strong enough to permanently blind a person in some cases.

"Good job, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun was cheering over and over, and down the street—though much closer than before, due to their own delaying fight—Robin and Usopp looked hopeful as well. "You did it, you beat it—"

The tail-less Nightmare hissed.

Almost immediately Nami backpedalled, raising her Clima-Tact defensively. Sanji-kun charged back up the street towards her, leaving Zoro and the Shepherd locked in their duel behind him, and Usopp yelped in surprise as the still fully whole Nightmare dragged itself free from Robin's grip once again and staggered down the street towards its fallen kin.

Seven and a half legs flailed wildly, and the fallen Harvester shrieked in fury as it struggled to right itself, already beginning to shake off Nami's Thunder Lance just like all the other temporary stuns they had unleashed on the creatures. Nami watched in shock as the more wounded of the two spider-cats jerked with its legs and finally succeeded in rolling itself over, coming to its feet with a series of furious clackings and wild screams.

Behind them, the Shepherd gave one single, furious, booming bark. As if in response, the two spider Nightmares, now joined once again in the center of the street, raised their heads, and the one still possessing a tail waved it wildly as they began to shriek.

"Look out—" Sanji-kun began, already leaping into the air and swinging his flaming leg at the closest of the two monsters. But then, just like before, the wave of pure terror and agonizing dread hit them, spreading outward in a far stronger, furious blast now that it was powered by _two_ creatures, not _one._

Instantly, Nami froze, and all around her the rest of the Straw Hat pirates did the same. Robin's hands, sprouting from the ground in yet another attempt to hold one of the Harvesters, dispersed in a flash of petals as the cold wave of terror interrupted her attacks, and Usopp's arms froze halfway through the process of drawing his Kabuto taut, the pellet dropping limply from his hand. Down the street—only a few yards, but feeling, to Nami's assaulted mind, like miles—the furious clang of swords abruptly ceased; and Sanji-kun's flaming leg abruptly fizzled out as a wide, horrified expression flitted across his face.

Nami knew why he was scared. She was terrified too. She could feel it, all of it, every single horrible, damning, shaming, terrifying thing she had done or witnessed or been trapped in, happening to her all at once. Bellemere died in front of her eyes over and over; Arlong's face leered at her through the cast shadows on the streets; Enel's cool announcement that all of her friends were dead filled her ears. _Suffer. Fear. Die!_

Distantly, Nami heard a crash through the frigid, mild-altering terror, and her eyes vaguely caught the sight of Sanji-kun smashing to the ground as gravity dragged him back from his attack leap, though her mind couldn't quite place the significance of it. Attack what? What was the point? They were going to die, there was no way to stop it; life was a mass of only suffering, of horrible things, of pain—

Sanji-kun jerked to his feet abruptly, gasping, looking like he'd clawed his way to the surface after nearly drowning. But while his expression was wild and exhausted looking, his eyes seemed...clear? That wasn't right, couldn't he see the inevitable, everyone was dead, everyone was going to die, nothing existed but horrible, terrible things—

_"Nami-san!"_ Sanji-kun yelled at her. "Wake up, wake up now! Robin-chan, Usopp, _wake up, run!_"

It was like he'd dumped a bucket of ice water over her. Hearing her name spoken so sharply, so urgently, had snapped her out of her daze. The blind fear, the wild panic, seemed to decrease, edging away from her heart, and the terrible visions faded into the mere shadows that they had always been. Looking around, she spotted Usopp and Robin, also with dazed expressions but clear eyes as they dragged themselves out of their own terrible visions.

And she heard the snarling, rasping bark behind them, sounding eerily like a throaty chuckle.

Spinning frantically, Nami watched in horror as the Shepherd, still making its strange laughing noise, reached out with its scythe-arms for their swordsman—and Zoro was still stunned by the creature, eyes wide and arms trembling as he struggled to free himself from the insidious attack's grip. Remembering how Sanji-kun had managed to free her, she shouted the swordsman's name, and heard three others join her frantically.

They were too late. The hook-like protrusions on the Shepherd's enormous scythe arms had already dug into Zoro's jacket—and to judge by the freshly running blood, a fair bit of skin as well. It gripped the swordsman with surprising care between the flats of the bony blades it possessed, just shy of crushing the human it held, and then, with another rasping bark, it flung Zoro into the air and down the street towards them.

Or, perhaps more specifically, towards the waiting Harvesters in their midst.

Zoro gasped as three frantic calls of his name (and one equally frantic 'marimo') finally reached his ears and dragged him from the confines of the fear-stun, but by then it was too late; he was already in the air. He twisted, trying to bring himself around, bring his swords to bear, but despite the Shepherd's lack of hands its throw was surprisingly accurate and equally swift.

The Harvesters surged forward gleefully, raising their heads and clacking their mandibles as they both tried to claim the swordsman for themselves. Robin crossed her arms and urgently summoned dozens of hands to try and hold the creatures in place, and while she succeeded in effectively capturing one—the one with the tail—the other evaded her grip. With a frantic yell, Sanji-kun leapt at the other one, trying to knock it aside before it could catch their nakama—

But it was too late. With a triumphant scream, the Harvester reared up, using several of its legs to push itself still higher, and snatched the thrown swordsman in its jaws, pinning his arms to his sides.

It was terrifyingly familiar, and with a start of horror Nami realized what was going to happen next. And though her predictions were never wrong, the navigator found herself wishing fervently that this one would be.

It wasn't. Zoro glared down at the creature balefully over the hilt of his sword, and twisted his body savagely to the left as he tried to free himself from the creature's jaws and twitching, reaching mandibles. Nami heard a sickly wet sound as skin ripped, and realized with a twist in her stomach that the thing had its teeth sunk into Zoro's arms, and he was cutting his own body trying to rip himself free—but then, this was the man who had also tried to cut off his own limbs before for the sake of entering a fight, so why should this surprise her now? But then Zoro froze, back arching suddenly, painfully far as two sets of mandibles seemed to plunge into his chest. His mouth opened wide, and the white katana dropped uselessly from his jaws, clacking down onto the Harvester's head before thudding to the broken cobblestones, glittering in the sunlight. Every part of the creature's body that the katana touched blackened and smoked, but the Nightmare pressed on insistently, plunging its mandibles still further into their crew-mate.

And then Zoro, too, just like Luffy before him, started screaming.

As with their captain, the sound went on endlessly, until it was a wonder he could keep it up without drawing breath. It was wild, primal, desperate, and though there were no words it still encased such intimately powerful despair and loss that Nami wasn't sure if she wanted to be sick or start shaking or even sobbing as she listened to it. As with Luffy, Nami had never heard Zoro make a sound like that; not ever, not even when he was suffering from the most horrific wounds or when his own death had almost certainly been upon him. Even in those times, Zoro had been determined, gaining strength from his single-minded goals and his resolute promises to protect them all. Now—now, as the scream went on, and finally died away, it was as though all that was drained from him, and he was empty, dead.

Something flashed brightly, though it was dulled in the late-afternoon sun, and Nami, blinking spots out of her eyes, watched in confusion as the Harvester withdrew all three of its remaining mandibles from Zoro's chest, gripping something small and glittering carefully between one pair. It settled the gripping mandibles—holding the object like a finger and thumb, just as before—once again inside its mouth, and at the same time released their swordsman. Zoro dropped like a corpse to the cobblestones, looking unusually pale in the swatch of sunlight that slashed across the street from the late-afternoon sun.

"Look out!" Usopp warned frantically, running towards them and gesturing behind them. Nami heard a fast, rhythmic _thud-scrape_ and looked over her shoulder in time to see the Shepherd charging towards them, doglike fangs bared as it paced ever closer.

"Damn it!" Sanji-kun snarled, and as the tail-less Harvester crouched over Zoro's unmoving form the cook dodged around it, spun, and released all his anger in the form of one displacing kick. The creature screamed as it was catapulted towards the Shepherd, legs flailing.

Drawing its shadowy lips back further in a fiendish grin, the doglike creature dodged the flung Nightmare and scrabbled back on course, its momentum barely slowed.

"Look out—" Robin hissed warningly, as the Nightmare she was restraining struggled all the more violently to free itself. Sanji-kun darted forward immediately to help her stun the creature, probably intending to use it as another shot against the Shepherd—so far, the most effective way to wound them had been to use the creatures against each other. But then Robin's eyes widened, and, still gritting her teeth as she struggled to hold the Harvester at bay, she gasped, "Swordsman-san?"

Nami whipped her head around—and stared. Zoro was, unbelievably, back on his feet. After Luffy's attack, she hadn't expected their swordsman to get up again; Luffy had remained steadily unconscious from the moment that terrifying scream left his lips. But whatever the creature had done to Zoro, apparently it hadn't been as strong as the same attack on their captain. Zoro stood at the ready, swords in hands, eyes narrowed as he watched the Shepherd draw ever closer.

Nami blinked, then frowned. No, that wasn't right at all. It had appeared that way at first, but now that she looked closer, she realized that Zoro didn't look well at all. His skin was oddly pale, just like Luffy's had been after the attack, and his eyes weren't narrowed in fierce determination or preparedness—they were squinted in confusion, as though he wasn't sure what was going on, or what he should do. The swords in his hands were held too loosely—Nami was no swordswoman, but even she could tell that they drooped too limply to be of use—and he made no effort to raise them, though the Shepherd was getting closer by the second. Worst of all, his white sword remained abandoned on the cobblestones, untouched and unnoticed. Zoro treated his swords like living things, like extensions of himself—there was no way he would simply leave one laying about on the ground like that, _especially_ if he was about to be attacked.

Something was very, _very_ wrong, and the origin of it was whatever that Harvester had done to him.

"Zoro!" Nami called now, frantic. "Zoro, attack!" Nothing. The swordsman's lips pulled back in a grimace of confusion, but the swords in his hand did not raise an inch, and he swayed drunkenly on his feet. "Zoro! Attack, run, do_ something_, don't stand there—_no!_"

The Shepherd reached him, and emitting that harsh, barking laughter once again, it slashed out with one of its scythe arms straight for their swordsman's neck—

—And Usopp, with an all-out scream of terror, hit Zoro from the side and tackled their frozen first mate out of the way.

The scythe sliced past a hair above them, barely missing Zoro's head and sending a razoring gash halfway up one of Usopp's arms. The sniper's panicked scream turned into a yell of pain, and he and Zoro crashed to the broken cobblestones in a clatter of sheathes, the metallic _clank_ of swords as they were jerked from the swordsman's hands, and the twin _thuds_ of heavy bodies. Zoro's head smashed on one of the many scattered pieces of rubble in the streets, and with a grunt of pain his eyes rolled as he passed out. Usopp fared better, but had quickly become entangled in the sword sheathes still at Zoro's hip, and frantically struggled to free himself.

Things were going from bad to worse now, Nami noted, with a twinge of fear that was entirely her own. Robin and Sanji-kun were struggling to keep the Harvester still possessing its tail and limbs stunned and held down, and the creature was becoming more and more violent in its efforts to free itself. The spider-creature that had injured Zoro had righted itself once more and was clawing its way back to them, jaws agape and revealing something glittering within as it screamed and charged for them. And with Zoro down and Usopp tangled, the Shepherd was pacing towards them without a hint of worry or hesitation, raising is scythe arms high.

Nami grit her teeth and snapped her Clima-Tact together once again for the Cyclone Tempo formation. Maybe she couldn't kill the thing, but she'd be damned if she let it have a clear shot at her crew mates! Drawing back her arm to throw, she aimed—

And a high, cold, clear whistle resounded over the island, pitching higher and higher until it abruptly went silent.

As one, the three Nightmares froze in place, and the Shepherd cocked its enormous doglike ears curiously. For her part, Nami was surprised at the sound, and froze as well, arm still drawn back to throw. The sound was curiously familiar, and Nami recognized elements of it from the storm that had initially dragged them all here yesterday.

For a full ten seconds, nobody at all moved. Then the Shepherd broke the stalemate: it gave two sharp barks, and dove towards the Nightmare still possessing its tail, snarling and snapping at Robin's disembodied arms. She caused them to vanish in a swirl of petals instantly, and both Harvesters immediately broke away down the street, running full-tilt towards the red-gold forest, hissing and clacking almost urgently. The Shepherd growled at the humans warningly, then leapt after the two spider creatures, loping along just behind them as though to keep them moving in its sights. Within moments, they were gone.

Shaken, Nami sat down on a piece of rubble, staring down the street at the place where the Nightmares had disappeared. Nearby, Usopp finally managed to disentangle himself from the sheathes, and flopped back on the ground, gasping and staring at their unconscious swordsman with a look of horror on his face. Even Robin looked subdued, and every single one of them showed hints of exhaustion.

"Th-they're gone," Usopp finally said, voice shaking almost as much as the rest of him. "M-maybe we scared them aw-way..."

The rest of them exchanged glances, and even Usopp looked grim, like he didn't believe himself. There had been no victory here for the Straw Hats; those creatures had been called away, and stolen with them the health of another nakama. Almost as one, their gazes dropped to the prone Zoro, still crumpled on the cobblestones where Usopp had tackled him.

"What do we do now?" Sanji-kun said, very slowly. His hands shook slightly as he lit a cigarette for himself, probably in an attempt to calm down, although Nami had a feeling it would take a whole damn pack to recover from what had just happened to them. Blood still dripped over the fingers of his hand from the shoulder wound the Shepherd had given him, and the left arm of his jacket was matted and damp with it as well.

There was silence. Nobody knew, and the situation was _very_ bad. It was getting dark, they were separated from the rest of their crew, on an island far more dangerous than they had first assumed, without knowing exactly where they were or how far they would have to travel through hostile territory to reach some point of safety. And on top of all that, now one of their nakama—and the acting captain, at that—had fallen to the same illness that had taken Luffy. She doubted things could be more dire.

But she forced herself to think logically, and there was only so much they could do, right now, in this situation. "Let's find a place to hole up," she said slowly. "Someplace we can defend, where those things can't get at us, like we originally planned. We can take care of our injuries there, maybe figure out a way to wake Zoro up, if it's doable, and compare notes. For now, we just have to make it through the night."

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all they had. One by one, her three conscious companions nodded in agreement, and Robin sprouted a number of feet to carry the prone Zoro until they could find a place of safety. Not even Sanji-kun argued. They knew that with Zoro down, his powerful kicks were likely their strongest defense against the creatures, and they couldn't afford to have him hindered by carrying anyone. Nami kept her Clima-Tact arranged for the_ Cyclone Tempo,_ just to be safe, and Usopp, after collecting Zoro's swords together from the cobbles and shoving them respectfully into their corresponding sheathes, kept an exploding star ready in his Kabuto as they walked.

They set off into the setting sun to find some sort of temporary sanctuary. If they were lucky it would last them long enough to survive the night and maybe, if they were _really_ lucky, they could figure out a plan of action as well. Hopefully, the night would bring more answers than terrors.

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><p>Shit, wait, that Zoro guy isn't important either, is he?...He is? Aw, damn, I <em>suck<em> at this fanfiction thing...

For everyone who thought the Shepherd was going to be the snake-arm...well, Franky and Brook _did_ say 'it acts like a general.' :P

I'm going to stop using my usual review phrase here because let's face it, you all know the drill by now, there's no need to repeat myself.

~VelkynKarma


	8. Sleepless

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part eight of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own,_ One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"Before you start to drift, and your soul begins to scream,<br>I just wanted to tell you that you're listening to a dream."  
>~<em>The Dream<em>, Shinedown

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><p>Around six-thirty, just as the sun was beginning to set, Franky, Chopper and Brook ducked into the abandoned temple of the nameless village that the rest of their crew had discovered hours earlier. All three were panting from the exertion of a long run, but despite their obvious fatigue, none of them paused to rest for long. Franky took up a careful post in the doorway, much like Zoro had done hours earlier, while Brook stood back and allowed Chopper free reign of the building.<p>

"Smell anything, Reindeer-Gorilla?" Franky asked.

Chopper trotted around the interior of the building in Walk Point, nose to the ground like a bloodhound, before lifting his head and nodding. "They were here," the reindeer confirmed. "Probably this afternoon, since the scent is starting to fade a little, but it's still strong enough for me to track. I think they even had lunch here, I can smell food. And Sanji's cigarettes." His nose twitched a little in disgust at the last scent.

"Then we're on the right track after all," Brook noted with enthusiasm. "Yohohoho! That is news to lighten a man's heart, although I have none to lighten!"

Franky nodded in agreement, reassured that his hasty call had been a good one. After their wild encounter with the horde of spider-nightmares, and their creepy snake-arm generals, he and his crew mates had worked quickly to prepare for more encounters and hopefully rescue their nakama. The cyborg spent an hour carefully combing the ship for anything that he and his crew mates could use as a weapon, along with the help of both Chopper and Brook. It had to be something that was part of the _Thousand Sunny_, but still viable as a weapon, so careful choice had been necessary. The planks he and Chopper had used were naturally set aside for further use—they were good and stout, long enough to have a decent reach while still packing a _super_ punch. Joining them was a large bag of nails, some older and bent from past repairs, while others were painstakingly (and tearfully) extracted from some of the boards in the ship's less visited rooms (he could replace them later, when the danger was past). An old sailcloth came next: it had been torn in a fight the week previous with some marines that had been a little too cannon-happy, and Franky had been forced to replace the old sail with a new one. It was a good thing now, and Franky had carefully cut it into strips for more convenient use before adding it to the pile. A few coils of line had finished the ensemble, and the makeshift weapons, combined with some food from Curly-Cook's stores (thank whatever gods were out there Franky knew the override commands for the locks) were all neatly packed away in a large canvas sack.

Chopper carried the supplies, fastened to his back in Walk Point. Franky could have done it as well—he was certainly strong enough for it—but Franky had already taken on another burden: their captain.

Luffy was still sickly and pale, his skin gray and dead looking, and while his eyes remained open they looked lifeless, staring blankly at nothing. He'd been unresponsive and uncooperative when they tried to move him, so Franky had fashioned a hammock-like sling that strapped across his back out of the largest piece of old sailcloth to carry him in. Thankfully, even in his unnerving, corpselike state, the captain was still enormously flexible, allowing his body to bend enough that they could fit him into the sling in what would otherwise have likely been an uncomfortable position.

Strangely enough, when they had first tried to fit him into it, Luffy had actually _whimpered_ and shied away from the sailcloth hammock, almost as though it pained him. It had set him into a terrifying, hypnotic ranting— _"No, no, can't find it, stolen, stolen, stolen—"_ that had caused Chopper to cover his ears in distress and Franky and Brook to start shivering finely, despite the fact that the sun beating down on the deck made it quite warm. Luffy kept up the ranting whisper until they pulled him out of the confines of the sailcloth, whereupon he fell silent as the grave once more. It had puzzled them deeply, but they found that if they wrapped their captain up tightly in a thin blanket and _then_ placed him in the hammock, he uttered not a sound. Solution found, Franky had strapped the makeshift contraption over his shoulders. Once in place, their captain was so snugly bound into the sling that it cocooned around him, hiding him almost entirely from view, just as the cyborg had designed. If any of the creatures tried to attack him from behind or steal their captain away from them again, they'd find the _Sunny_ would have something to say about it.

They made preparation after preparation until at last, a little under an hour after the initial swarm attack, the three crew members were ready to go. Chopper carried their weapons, both for themselves and their exploring crew mates, in the canvas sack on his back, and Franky had tied a few strips of sailcloth around his horns just in case. Brook had a bit of line tied around the sheath of his cane-sword, and was more impressively armed with his violin and bow, with the instrument case strapped across his back. And Franky, in addition to carrying their captain, also held the largest length of the _Sunny's_ broken planking in his two massive hands, ready to use at a moment's notice.

They set off as quickly as they could after that. Franky had no worries for the _Thousand Sunny_, which clearly was able to defend itself against these terrible creatures. But just in case he'd moved the ship back a little ways from the docks, and they took the_ Mini Merry_ to the shore instead. From there, Chopper took the lead, and the three of them quickly followed the reindeer's nose as he tracked their nakama through the old fishing village and the two roads at its edge. Chopper had sensed their nakama's scent strongly from the northwestern path, and the three of them tore down it at full speed, hoping to catch up to their nakama as soon as possible. The road never deviated or shifted, and Chopper repeatedly reported the scent trailing ever onward ahead of them as they ran.

Until at last, just as the sun started to set, they came upon the village that their friends had discovered earlier that day, and Chopper led them unerringly to the temple that they were in at that very moment.

"Where'd they go after this?" Franky asked next, looking around the temple again as he absently shifted the sling that held their captain more comfortably onto his shoulders. He could hear Luffy whispering his nonsensical accusations of something being stolen once again as he was stirred, but the whispers died down into nothing after a few moments. Franky was glad regardless. Luffy's ranting happened with depressing regularity now, but it was still impossible to grow used to it.

Chopper nosed around in the temple for a few moments more, then slowly trotted back towards the entrance. "This way," he said shortly, and broke into a canter as he raced down another empty village street. Franky and Brook sped up to keep pace, and another five minutes later found them at the edge of the village, staring down a long, darkened road.

"They must have gone on to another village," Brook observed. "Shall we follow?"

Franky considered, and then grimly shook his head. "No." And at the stunned looks of his companions, he added, "It's too risky. Even if we know the _Sunny_ will help us fight these things, they still have the advantage at night. If they attack us in the dark there's no way we'll be able to defend ourselves, especially if they swarm like they did at the docks. Not to mention we'd be useless to the others—we can't deliver these weapons if we're knocked out or...whatever it is the Nightmares do. It'd definitely be _un-super_ to let ourselves get ambushed like that, and besides, we've gotta protect Luffy."

"That's right," Chopper agreed solemnly. "All this travel has probably been rough on him." He looked fearful, and reverted to Brain Point without even appearing to notice.

"But what about the others?" Brook asked, and although it was hard to tell exactly, Franky was pretty sure he was concerned—he sounded it, anyway.

"Pfft, they'll be fine," Franky said, with more confidence than he actually felt. "They've got Sword-bro and Curly-cook with'em, and the others are smart enough to keep'em in check if things get dangerous. We'll find them tomorrow and share everything we found out with them. For now, let's find a place to hide out and get a little rest, and we'll leave first thing in the morning."

"Yeah!" the other two agreed, and, feeling a little more heartened that they were on the right track, at least, the trio turned to find shelter and attend to their still-murmuring captain.

* * *

><p>The second night they spent on Asteria Island was, in Nami's opinion, possibly one of the worst nights of her life since she'd officially joined Luffy's crew.<p>

With only half an hour until sunset, when the danger would definitely become tenfold what it already was, the four pirates were forced to scrabble desperately for some sort of shelter that would hopefully let them last through the night. Already a difficult prospect, it was made even more problematic by the need to transport—and if it came to it, protect—their unconscious swordsman, whom they hadn't been able to wake.

In the end, it was Robin who came through for them and their urgent need for shelter. Spreading her vision across the town of Remia with her _Hana-Hana_ powers, the archaeologist eventually discovered a depression hidden deep within one of the less destroyed buildings, which she guessed had probably once been a rich home or a storehouse of some sort. They headed to it as quickly as possible, and after a little investigation discovered that the depression was probably formerly some sort of wine- or root-cellar, with a short flight of still fairly sturdy stone stairs leading down into its depths. The cellar was big enough for all of them, with some space left over, and according to Robin was likely sturdy enough to withstand physical attacks from the Nightmares, if the stone roof had already held for so long.

They moved quickly to prepare the space for their own safety. It was dark down in the cellar, but Usopp unpacked a pair of collapsible lanterns he and Franky had devised, and once lit (courtesy of Sanji-kun's lighter), they cast a warm, friendly glow throughout the interior. The place was thankfully uninhabited, and other than a few broken bits of what had probably once been tools or storage containers, it was completely empty as well. It was probably the best accommodations they could hope for, considering their dire straits.

While Nami carried their packs down, and Usopp and Sanji-kun worked together to lift their still unconscious (and extremely pale) swordsman down the stairs, Robin set to a different project. Borrowing an article of loose clothing from everyone in the group—even untying Zoro's black bandanna from his motionless figure with a pair of disembodied hands—she quickly assembled the collection and headed back up to the near-dark streets of Remia. Ten minutes later, as the rest of the pirates began to settle into their grim lodgings for the night, she returned.

"What was that all about, Robin?" Usopp asked curiously, as she handed his cap and Sanji-kun's and Nami's jackets back, and quietly re-tied Zoro's bandanna.

"I was spreading our scent throughout the entire town," the archaeologist responded, waving a pair of disembodied arms absently to show just how she had managed to pass the items around so quickly. "We do not know how these creatures hunt or track, but it is probably for the best that we eliminate as many possibilities as we can. Our scents are now in every single building and up and down every single street. It will be impossible for them to track us here directly. Hopefully," she finished, her expression utterly calm, a strange contrast to her unsettling words, "they do not track by other means we cannot even begin to fathom."

"Brilliant, Robin-chan," Sanji-kun cooed, though softer than usual. In the enclosed space of the cellar, their voices sounded impossibly loud, and out of fear of attracting the creatures back everyone had almost automatically started lowering their voices when they spoke.

"Thank you, Cook-san," she accepted quietly. "I've blocked the entrance as well with some rubble, so our lantern light will be more difficult to see while not cutting off our air supply. Now that we have relatively safe lodgings for the night, perhaps it is best to tend to other matters regarding our survival."

Nami nodded. "Right, I was just thinking that," she agreed, and went back to digging through her backpack, just as she had been before Robin returned. Moments later, she finally found what she was looking for and and withdrew the small roll of bandages and a bottle of antiseptic, both generously provided by Chopper for the expedition. "Let's start by looking after everybody's injuries. Sanji-kun, could you please guard the door while I help everyone...just in case?" The cook leapt immediately to do as bid, and Nami turned to examine her fellow pirates.

As luck would have it, Nami had avoided taking any injury. Other than exhaustion, she had thankfully escaped from the encounter with the Nightmares unscathed. Robin had several nasty cuts on her arms from where she had scuffled with the Harvesters while trying to hold them in place, however, and while most of them had stopped bleeding it would still be important to treat and bind them as soon as possible. Sanji-kun had escaped the fight relatively unscathed as well, and his one shoulder wound, given to him by the Shepherd at the start of the fight, looked worse than it was and only required minimal bandaging. Usopp still had a long gash down one arm, where the Shepherd had cut him when he tackled Zoro out of the way. That _was_ still bleeding, although Usopp was valiantly attempting to downplay it by telling stories about his grandeur and how this particular wound was _nothing_ compared to that time when he was six and fought five-thousand enemy marines with his bare hands. Nami rolled her eyes at the story and helped him treat it, since the wound was at such an awkward angle, and shook her head in exasperation when the so-called grand sniper whimpered at the sting of the antiseptic as she dabbed it on.

Zoro was in the worst shape, though in terms of straight injury that wasn't exactly surprising. He'd taken half a dozen sharp cuts from his sword-and-scythe battle with the Shepherd, although these were laughable compared to some of the _real_ injuries Zoro had gotten in past fights. One deep gash along his left arm was a little more worrisome, the results of the Harvester's fangs digging in and tearing violently, and Nami winced as she remembered the wet ripping sound when Zoro had fought to free himself. That wound probably should have had stitches, but they weren't exactly equipped for that on their exploratory trip, so Nami just had to bind it tightly and hope for the best. He had a rather large bump on the side of his head from where he'd cracked it into the stone when Usopp tackled him, but it wasn't bleeding and she didn't think it would cause any lasting problems.

Most puzzling, however, was his chest. Nami could have_ sworn_ she saw the Harvester bury all three of its remaining long, sharp mandibles straight into and through Zoro's ribcage, and when she asked around Sanji-kun and Usopp grimly reported seeing it as well. But his torso showed no signs of being violently torn open or burrowed within. Instead, only three minor puncture marks adorned his chest—things Zoro probably wouldn't have even noticed had happened to him, let alone counted them as wounds. They were identical to the four wounds Luffy had taken, and Nami was _sure_ now that they were more significant than the Straw Hats had first thought.

But while it tugged at her mind, and while her subconscious screeched frantically that those minor injuries were perhaps the most important of all, she couldn't put her finger on it. So she pushed it to the back of her mind, and decided that a little rest might help her figure it out, instead. She bandaged the puncture wounds to be safe, and tried once again to wake Zoro up, but he didn't respond to her touch and remained freakishly quiet.

There was nothing else any of them could do for Zoro, so Nami packed away the bandages and antiseptic, and they settled down for the night. Despite the fact that there was enough room for everybody to spread out and have a little space to themselves, Nami quickly found all of them—even Robin—huddling around the two lanterns near each other like they might have snuggled closer to a campfire after a scary ghost story. Even Sanji-kun, still on watch and with his back to the lanterns as he kept an eye on the blocked stairs, seemed to take some comfort in the close presence of his nakama. The only exception was Zoro. They had laid him out against the far wall, outside the ring of warm light the lanterns cast, because in the shadowy gloom it was almost impossible to tell that the gray pallor his skin was rapidly taking on wasn't simply a trick of the light. Almost, then, it was possible to pretend that their nakama wasn't badly sick somehow, and that he was just taking another one of his obnoxious, poorly timed naps. Only the fact that he was dead silent, not even snoring, ruined the deception.

Nami did not think, in her entire life, that she ever would have actually _wished_ she could hear their stupid swordsman _snoring_.

They sat up for a while, mostly silent, simply taking what small comforts they could in the presence of their nakama. Usopp tried vainly to cheer them by telling a few bright, colorful, fairy-tale stories with perfect endings and perfect justice, but none of the others really responded, and the sniper's heart didn't seem in it. After a while he gave up and fell silent as well, arms wrapped around the knees crushed to his chest as he stared tiredly at the lanterns before him.

They tried to trade off sleeping as well, taking a few hours at a time while the others stayed awake, but these attempts always failed miserably. Nami tried to get a little rest for a while, curled up with her back to the lanterns, completely aware that she was exhausted and that she desperately needed a chance to rest so she could figure out that little niggling hint at the back of her brain. But it was useless. After laying there for an hour, her mind was still whirling, and every time she closed her eyes she could see the Harvesters charging towards her out of the blackness, or hear the Shepherd's barking chuckle. Or worse, the images the _things_ had forced into her mind, when they used that wave of terror. She couldn't stand to see Bellemere dying again and again in front of her, and in the end she'd tiredly rolled towards the lanterns once more and offered her resting hours to somebody else.

No one else took them. They, too, always found themselves assaulted by nightmares and memories. In the end, they all agreed to stay up together, keeping an eye out for the horrible living Nightmares and trying to think to themselves how they could possibly get out of this situation alive—and intact.

Only a few hours after true dark had set, the first of the nightmares that they _couldn't_ awaken from began to happen. Up above, sounding frighteningly more and more close, they started to hear movement. Slow scuffling noises, ominous clicking of dozens of arachnid legs, and long hissing screams were prevalent, and they heard the occasional muffled _thud-scrape_ of heavy clawed treads as well. There had to be dozens of them up there. No, not dozens; hundreds. The noises came frighteningly close on a number of occasions, and during those times Nami felt as powerless as a child, just waiting for something horrible to come find them and tear them to pieces while they were completely and utterly powerless to stop it. She remembered, vaguely, when she'd been afraid of monsters in her closet and under her bed; Bellemere had reassured her then with an amused laugh, saying she was being scared of things that didn't actually exist, and wasn't that silly? But Bellemere was wrong, at least here on Asteria: the monsters _were_ real, and if they weren't as still and as quiet as possible, those monsters would find them, and do terrible, terrible things to them.

It was at those times, when the noises came closest, that Nami clamped her own hands over her mouth, squeezed her eyes shut, bit her thumb in her teeth—anything, anything at all, to keep from screaming. The lingering, welling panic in her chest as those _things_ hunted above threatened to get out, wanted desperately to escape, but if she let it happen she'd be killing them all. So she suppressed it, any way she could, with the frantic, terrified mantra of _don't find us, don't find us, oh God don't find us_ revolving through her mind over and over. She saw Usopp just as desperately doing the same, clamping hands over his mouth as he shook so violently it was a wonder he didn't simply fall apart.

During those times, Nami found herself almost involuntarily huddling closer to the others, seeking out friendly, safe human contact as she had all those years ago when she cried for Bellemere to come chase the monsters away. Usopp was of little comfort, with both of them shivering so badly. But Robin's presence was warm, almost motherly, and while she didn't smile or laughingly reassure them, the fact that she kept her own expressions calm, even though she _had_ to be just as afraid as them, did wonders for Nami's sanity. And Sanji-kun never objected when she squeezed a little closer after a particularly terrifying shriek or scraping scuffle from above; indeed, he often grinned reassuringly at her, delighted that she was actually clinging to him at _all_ probably, although Nami could tell the reaction was a bit forced. Sanji-kun was afraid as well—she could tell every time he tensed when the noises came closer, when his teeth ground and his body shifted as though he was preparing to attack, to defend—but he was at least trying to pretend he was unaffected for the rest of them.

But thankfully, Robin's plan had seemed to work. Although the creatures came painfully close several times, and during one especially terrifying span of five minutes had even explored the entire building above, they appeared unable to locate the Straw Hats. Nami could hear them ranging all over Remia, but it seemed the abominations would not discover their little cellar hide-away unless the pirates themselves announced their presence.

Which, around midnight, nearly happened.

Until then, the terrifying experience of hiding had only really been felt by Nami, Sanji-kun, Usopp, and Robin. Zoro lay mostly forgotten against the far wall, outside the warm ring of light, and once the group had become accustomed to his eerily silent rest, it had been all too easy to put him out of their minds. There was nothing they could do for him, after all, other than keep the monsters away from him if they did attack. But as the Nightmares searching above began to close in again, creeping closer and closer to the building that held their pathetic little hiding spot, the swordsman heaved a sudden sigh and rasped—in a voice that sounded terrifyingly, impossibly loud to their fear-strained ears—"Dammit...lost...can't...find...it..."

Usopp started to yelp, and the noise was only stifled due to one of Robin's disembodied limbs, which suddenly sprouted from his chest and slapped its palm over his mouth. Nami had jumped as well, rocking backwards into Sanji-kun's back, and the cook was looking over his shoulder in wide-eyed surprise back at their prone first mate.

"Is he awake?" Nami asked softly, tentatively.

Robin was regarding the swordsman curiously now as well, brows creased in concern. She dispelled the hand clasped to Usopp's mouth quickly and grew a second near one of the lanterns, which picked the object up and shifted it so that the glow cast further back towards the wall.

Nami's eyes widened, Usopp clapped his own hands to his mouth this time, and Sanji-kun barely suppressed a loud curse.

Zoro wasn't awake. His eyes were still fastened shut, and his skin was still as ashen as it had been hours ago. But he _had_ spoken, they hadn't imagined that. And what was more, he was _still_ speaking, with a low, rasping, pained hiss, like he hadn't drunk anything in days, like it hurt to speak. "Can't find it...d-dammit...it's gone...the...bastards...gone, lost..._stolen._ The bastards...stole it...damn it...stole it...stole it...stole it..._stole it_..."

He locked onto the phrase like a lifeline, repeating it over and over, and with every repetition his voice grew stronger, and more worrisomely, _louder._ It was creepy and frightening enough already, sounding eerily _un-Zoro,_ so empty and dead and pained, but if it continued it was also going to attract the Nightmares upstairs.

_"Marimo,"_ Sanji-kun hissed, a low rasp as he glared across the cellar at their unconscious swordsman. _"Shut the hell up, right now!"_ And although there was anger in his tone, his voice quavered slightly, as if he were afraid. A sharp glance at stairs and the rubble-covered doorway above was all Nami needed to see to know just what he was scared of.

But Zoro didn't listen, just continued to rant over and over— _"stole it, stole it, stole it—"_ and Nami seriously wondered if Zoro had even _heard_ Sanji-kun, was even _capable_ of hearing him.

"Zoro, _please_," Usopp begged, and Nami could hear him fighting the hysterical rise in his voice. "Please just be quiet or you're going to kill us—"

But Zoro was apparently just as incapable of hearing pleas as he was orders, and continued his nonsensical, spine-chilling rant all the more.

Another of Robin's disembodied hands sprouted on the ground near Zoro's neck, and bent to cover the swordsman's mouth just as one had Usopp's moments before. Zoro's ranting became more muffled, but did not stop, and Robin said quietly, but with a definite sharpness to her tone, "Zoro-san, if you continue in this manner, your nakama may die. Please quiet yourself."

The eerie recitation cut off abruptly. Nami wasn't sure if it was Robin using Zoro's name, and not his title, that did it, or if it was the explanation, or if it was simply because Zoro had stopped all on his own by coincidence. Whatever the case, he became silent once more, and a few minutes later the scraping and clicking above faded as the Nightmares moved on.

Sanji-kun ripped a cigarette out of its pack and lit up furiously, hands shaking.

By four in the morning, the pack was empty. Sanji-kun had been smoking like a fiend, and Nami couldn't really blame him; that had not been the last of the eerie incidents. Every time one of the creatures came too close, Zoro's nonsensical ranting would begin again, until Robin could muffle him into silence or the Nightmares moved away. Sometimes Robin could convince Zoro to quiet down again, if they were lucky. Other times, they held their breath and hoped desperately that the things above couldn't hear the rasping, moaning accusations that something—they still did not know what—had been stolen. Combined with the constantly searching, clicking, dragging, screaming creatures above, the last half of the night had been positively nerve-rattling, keeping every single one of them on edge.

Then, at about four-thirty in the morning by Sanji-kun's watch, the noises above—all of them—began to fade away completely, even the distant ones. With it went Zoro's strange ranting moments, and the swordsman once again fell unnaturally silent, with only the faint rise and fall of his chest indicating that he wasn't simply a corpse. The absolute, complete silence was welcome at first to Nami, but after barely ten minutes she found it almost more terrifying than the noises of the hunt above them, or Zoro's rasping chants. Because now it was easy, far too easy, to imagine that something was laying in wait above for them, that hundreds of the disgusting Harvesters and Shepherds and who only knew what else were lingering above to ambush them, enormously patient, perfectly silent—

"Perhaps we should do something to keep ourselves from panicking," Robin said suddenly. Nami started; the archaeologist's words had cut through her increasing panic like a knife through cord, effectively snapping that train of thought out of place. Shaking her head hastily to wipe away the last vestiges of panic, she raised her eyes and looked her fellow pirate in tired confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"It is important that we maintain some semblance of calm and order," Robin said slowly. "The creatures obviously benefit from our fear and our panic, or they would not employ such maneuvers in their combat strategies. We are exhausted and our morale is low, which is dangerous for us, and beneficial to them. We must do something to combat that, or we will most certainly lose."

Nami nodded shakily, and alongside her, Usopp did as well. "You're right, I guess...but what can we do, stuck down here?"

"Breakfast?" Sanji-kun offered. "We still have an hour or so until sunrise and we can even think of leaving, but...I have a feeling we're gonna want to move out as soon as we can."

Nami definitely agreed with that. There was no way she wanted to spend a minute more in this little hellhole than she had to. "Breakfast sounds like a good start," she said slowly, and had to admit with some surprise that it actually _did_. Her stomach was rumbling hungrily after a long night of strain with little rest, and Sanji-kun's food—even day-old packed lunches—was always delicious enough to cheer one up a bit.

The cook set to work breaking out the rest of their food stores and dividing them up, hesitating only momentarily when he came to Zoro's share. A quick glance at the prone swordsman told them he probably wouldn't be waking up any time soon, but Sanji-kun packed his rations back into one of the bags, just in case. Nami didn't blame him. Zoro had been exhibiting unusual characteristics _far_ different from Luffy's poisoning, or whatever it had been, and so it was still entirely possible that he _would_ eventually wake up, and he'd likely be hungry when he did.

Their breakfast rations were meager, considering it was half of yesterday's intended dinner, but even so getting a little food into her system made Nami feel better all the same. And as they ate, they tentatively broke into conversation—still with low, wary voices, just in case—to try and figure out what to do next.

"I believe I know where the creatures originate from," Robin began, her voice grim as she approached the topic with straightforward starkness.

"You do? How?" Usopp asked. He was still shaking, even as he ate, causing crumbs to scatter everywhere (and subsequently drawing Sanji-kun's irritated stare).

"The writing in the temple," Robin answered quietly. "Just before the Nightmares attacked, I was able to make out a single phrase that looked different from the others. The temple's caretakers were clearly very careful with their recordings, but this one was engraved as though in haste, and the glyphs were less perfected. It said simply, 'They came from Oneirosa.' There were a few more phrases, but unfortunately the Shepherd's attack destroyed what remained of the wall." Robin's eyes narrowed in a rare show of anger, but none of them were truly surprised. All of them knew Robin loathed the wanton destruction of ancient ruins and old histories.

"Oneirosa," Nami said slowly. "That's the city in the middle, right?"

"Correct," Robin said with a nod. "Truthfully, I am unsurprised that the creatures likely originated from the city. Based on the other recordings found here, Oneirosa contains the Temple of Dreams, and was the island's center for its religion. These Nightmares seem heavily tied up in Asteria's mythos, in some way. The city is the most likely place for them to emerge from."

"If that's the case," Sanji-kun said, staring disappointedly at his empty pack of cigarettes, "then the city is probably a nest of them by now. There were a lot of those things up there..." He trailed off, and almost everyone in their little group shuddered.

"But why would these things just...appear all of a sudden, out of nowhere?" Usopp asked, frowning in confusion. "Even if we believe all the stories Robin was reading us, and accept them as real, they always say these Nightmares live in this 'world of dreams' place. So why would they be at this city?"

"As to that," Robin answered quietly, "I believe the reason is, once again, connected to the visitors that arrived during the Void Century. The records in the temples did not begin to change drastically until these visitors were mentioned, and only then did more Nightmare mythos begin to take shape." She frowned, and then said with a trace of what Nami could have sworn was frustration in her voice, "If only we could find some of the records of those visitors themselves...supposedly they stayed here, in Remia, and this would be the ideal place to locate them. But I've seen no trace of written records, which means they were probably recorded on paper or parchment, and that will have long since been destroyed without the proper care..."

"Maybe they preserved things better in the city, Robin-chan," Sanji-kun immediately offered, voice hopeful.

But Usopp's eyes widened in horror at the very thought. "Go there? No way! Sanji, you said _yourself_ it was going to be a _nest_ of those things, and we could barely fight three, even _with_ a weapon that could hurt them!" He glanced over at Zoro's prone form, then back to the cook. "We can't go there, it's too dangerous!"

Sanji-kun looked about to argue, but Robin smoothly interrupted, holding up one hand. "Usopp is right," she said simply. "There is always a possibility that the records were, once upon a time, better preserved in Asteria's capital—that much is true. However, if you are correct, Cook-san, and the creatures now infest Oneirosa, then it is likely any records were destroyed already—if they even existed to begin with. At the present time, trying to enter the city might be dangerous. Especially with one of our number incapacitated," she finished delicately.

As one, the group glanced at Zoro again, and shivered. Robin was right—trying to enter the city now, when they were exhausted, frightened, and forced to carry their inert swordsman around, was all but asking for death. Especially when they still had no real weapons to use against the creatures, and didn't have anyone left capable of using the_ single_ defense they knew they did have.

Sanji-kun nodded. "Of course, Robin-chan," he agreed immediately. "You are absolutely right, as always!" He smiled at her, and while Nami thought the expression looked as goofy and lovesick as always, it also seemed a bit...relieved? Which was surprising, coming from Sanji-kun, although she really couldn't blame him for it. They'd barely come out of that last encounter in one piece, and with the clacking and screaming and scraping above that they'd listened to for hours after, it was no wonder none of them ever wanted to meet one of those horrible Nightmares again.

Silence fell for a few moments, and Nami was once again reminded of just how quiet it was. With the creatures no longer roaming about up above, and the unnatural absence of Zoro's snoring, the lack of noise felt almost oppressive, the tension and fear thick. Nami shifted uncomfortably, and around her the others seemed to do so as well.

Usopp broke the silence abruptly, almost blurting out his question in his haste to make a little reassuring noise. "Did you guys see what actually happened to Zoro?"

The others blinked, frowned. Nami's brows knit together in confusion, and she asked slowly, "What do you mean exactly?"

"I mean..." Usopp hesitated, seemed to struggle to get his thoughts in order. "When that thing...grabbed him...it stuck all its pincer-things into Zoro all at once. And then...there was sort of a flash, and I could've sworn it pulled something small out of his body."

Nami hated having to think of that terrible, mind-numbing moment, but she forced herself to remember as best as she could what she'd seen. The creature had snapped Zoro up, and there was that horrific _scream_ as Zoro arched back, and the creature plunged its eager mandibles into his chest. Nami thought, at the time, it was trying to rip open his chest, or tear his heart out, or do something equally violent and fatal...but once again, her mind flickered briefly to the three minor puncture wounds the swordsman had taken, instead of the sliced skin, cracked bone, and buckets of blood she had initially expected. It hadn't tried to kill Zoro at all; not that way, at least. So what had that attack been for?

She thought more carefully still about what came next, and realized with a start that Usopp was right. There had been a flash, and the creature _had_ pulled something out of Zoro's body, like a pebble or small rock that had glittered and flashed in the late afternoon sun. And then it had protected it afterwards, hiding it inside its own mouth while holding it in a careful grip with two of its mandibles, as though it didn't want to touch the object with any other part of its body.

"You're right," she said with a frown. "Call me crazy, but I think I saw the same thing."

"You're not crazy at all, Nami-san! I saw it too. And what's more, it happened to Luffy, too," Sanji-kun noted suddenly, with a frown. "The flash was brighter because it happened in the dark. And the...the Harvester...it was carrying something glittering in its mouth after Luffy dropped. I barely noticed it at the time since I just jumped in to attack, but..."

"You're right," Nami agreed. "Now that you mention it, the same things happened when Luffy was attacked, too."

Usopp was frowning still, and said slowly, "Nami, don't...don't get mad at me or anything, but...I think...I think the things it stole from Luffy and Zoro...I think those were _Dreamshards._"

Nami's eyes widened, and then she shook her head frantically. "No, no way! That can't be possible. Minerals don't form from _people_, and there's no way you could tear a gemstone out of somebody's chest without causing _way_ more damage than what either Luffy_ or_ Zoro have right now!" Her voice was angry, but she noticed with a mental wince that there was almost a note of hysteria in her voice as well. It couldn't be true. It would just make no _sense._

Usopp held up his hands placatingly, but still said insistently, "Calm down, okay? Look, I know it's a grisly sort of thing to have to accept, but it can't be _impossible._ A person made out of rubber should be impossible, too, but we've got Luffy, don't we?"

Nami opened her mouth to argue, but Robin once again smoothly interjected. "I believe Usopp has a point," she said. "The stories that we've heard, both on Adamantina and in the recordings on this island, have frequently spoken of Nightmares stealing _dreams._ The jewels are known as Dreamshards...did we not question earlier where they obtained such an unusual name? The connection now seems obvious."

"It could just be because they're dreamy to look at," Nami tried to counter lamely. "Or because they're lucky and make your dreams come true...or..." But she was only fooling herself, and she knew it. Robin and Usopp were right: the fact that Dreamshards probably came from _people_ made more and more sense, the longer she thought about it. The stories matched up to the existing gems today, and the thing she'd seen stolen from Zoro was about the same size as some of the larger Dreamshards she'd seen on Adamantina in the jewelry shops, and had flashed as brightly as those did, too. It made sense. It made _too_ much sense.

But Nami didn't want to accept it all the same. Because if it _was_ true, then Dreamshards could only be taken from people, at a horrible, unforgivable cost. Every single one of those glittering gems she'd nearly swooned over back on the other island had been formed to the sorrow-filled screams of a suffering human, leaving them empty, ashen, ranting over their own unexpected loss. She'd thought the monetary value of the shards back on Adamantina had been ridiculously high, but if their origin _was_ true, then it should have been hundreds—no, _thousands_—of times more expensive. They were beautiful beyond compare, but if they were stolen from humans, reducing them to such empty, pathetic shells without an ounce of mercy, than not even that beauty, or that enormous monetary value, was worth it.

And it would also mean that Nami had connived, wheedled, and threatened her crew to Asteria for nothing. The price to find their own Dreamshards would be far too high, and not even that much money was worth her losing Luffy, or Zoro, or any of her other nakama. It wasn't worth stealing their dreams.

The others understood the impact of Usopp's grisly theory as well, and understood especially just how hard Nami was taking it. They fell silent, each withdrawing into their own thoughts as they tried to come to grips with the unfortunate truth circling the very reason they'd come here in the first place.

Nami ran it through her mind over and over, in a wild blur. Now they understood—somewhat, at least—the reasons for Luffy's and Zoro's unexpected 'nightmare sickness.' Now that they knew the source, there had to be _some_ way to cure it. It would be cruelly unfair for them to have found what ailed their suffering nakama, but to never have found a way to fix it.

_But life isn't always fair, is it?_ a taunting little voice in the back of Nami's head whispered to her, and unbidden, that horrible image of Bellemere's last moments played in front of her eyes once again. The Nightmares weren't even present, and yet even so their insidious attacks were still working, tearing her apart from the inside—

"What was that?" Usopp asked suddenly, eyeing the staircase fearfully. Nami's head snapped up in surprise, and she watched the stairs warily, hands already reaching for her Clima-Tact. The barest flicker of shadow was visible up the dark stairs, even though Nami had heard nothing—

"I will investigate," Robin said, and immediately sprouted several arms, with an eye planted in each hand's palm, at the top steps. The arms and eyes rotated around carefully through the cracks of the makeshift rubble doorway for several moments before vanishing, and Robin said with a soft smile, and an almost relieved tone, "The sun is beginning to rise."

Usopp let out a delighted whoop, and a wide grin spread across Sanji-kun's face. Nami found herself grinning delightedly as well. Although the light wouldn't completely protect them from the horrible Nightmares, it would at least give them a little bit of an advantage, now that they knew the creatures couldn't see well in strong sunlight. That the sun was rising meant they had survived, that they had beaten the creatures in a small but nevertheless significant victory, and meant, too, that they could _keep_ surviving in the future. That thought alone was relieving and revitalizing.

"Time to get ready to go," Nami said, and everyone set to work immediately, extinguishing the lanterns, packing up their bags, clearing away the rubble blockage, and preparing for battle. They hoped a fight wouldn't come, but they knew better than to move unprepared after yesterday evening.

They were ready to go in five minutes, but at Robin's suggestion waited half an hour more, to give the sun further time to rise. It was the longest half hour of Nami's life, and she felt like they were wasting precious time that they could be using to leave, but Robin was right as well. The time would be well spent waiting, if it would provide even the slightest advantage in their escape in the end.

At last the time passed, and everyone set their packs on their backs and prepared to move out. But as Usopp and Sanji-kun headed over to their prone swordsman to lift him up the stairs, something new and unexpected happened: Zoro gave a loud, entirely natural-sounding groan of discomfort and slowly cracked his eyes open.

Everyone stared, stunned. Nami expected Zoro to strike up a new bout of wild ranting about how something had been stolen (she tried _very_ hard to not think about what), but instead he merely blinked tiredly and stared at the ceiling in confusion. "Wha...where th'hell am I..."

"Zoro?" Nami said in surprise, and heard the others, in varying stages of shock and confusion, saying the same right alongside her.

The swordsman blinked again, this time in reaction to hearing his own name in stereo, and turned his head to look at them all. "Oh...you guys," he muttered under his breath, and then, with a sharp heave, he dragged himself into a sit. "Dammit," he groaned, and painstakingly lifted a hand to his other arm, where the vicious Nightmare-bite was tightly bound. "I feel like complete _shit..._"

Nami hadn't thought she could be more surprised than by Zoro's waking, but she was proven wrong in a heartbeat. Her eyes widened, and she exchanged stunned glances with Usopp, Sanji-kun, and even Robin. Zoro had _complained_. About being in _pain_. He never did that. _Ever._ Not even when he'd nearly cut his own feet off, or Mr. One had nearly sliced him to ribbons, or even after the horrific injuries he'd taken on Thriller Bark. And not just complained, either; now he was curled forward, leaning tiredly against the back wall, with one hand clutching his bite wound and the other pressed to his forehead, like he had a headache. There were dark rings under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days even though it was _all_ he'd done all night, and combined with his still-ashen skin and pained pose, he looked absolutely terrible...and _acted_ it, too. What the hell was going on?

The others felt unnerved by the strange reaction as well, that much was obvious. Robin was frowning, watching Zoro with puzzled concern, and Usopp wasn't even trying to conceal his dropped jaw or staring eyes. Sanji-kun, almost predictably, responded to the anomaly with his rival by trying to start a fight. "What the hell, marimo? I thought anyone aspiring to be the world's greatest frikkin' swordsman isn't supposed to let something as ridiculous as _pain_ get him down?"

Nami grimaced; the last thing that they needed was a _fight_ right now. She started to raise her fist, to intercept as the argument that would inevitably turn into an actual battle began. And Zoro did, predictably, raise his head and glare daggers at Sanji-kun, with the psychotic, wild expression that _was_ all too familiar despite the gray face and deep shadows under his eyes.

The swordsman winced and opened his mouth to retort, and before Nami could intervene, still managed to say scathingly, "What the hell are you talking about, love-cook?"

Everyone, even Sanji-kun, froze.

Usopp recovered first. "Haha, good joke, Zoro," he offered, laughing lamely. "We all know you're good at dealing with injury, but don't prove it, okay? You've just had a bit of a bad day is all."

"No," Zoro scowled, "Not that. I _do_ feel like shit. I meant, what the hell is dartboard going on about, with all that—" he winced again, but managed to rasp out tiredly, "—world's greatest swordsman crap?"

It was like getting punched in the gut. Nami actually staggered backwards a pace, Usopp gaped, and Sanji-kun hissed, "What the hell kind of crap are you _pulling_, you shitty swordsman? Whatever it is, it isn't funny!"

This didn't make sense. This didn't make sense at _all._ Robin's eyes were narrowed in fierce concentration across from Nami, and the navigator's mind was thinking furiously as well. There wasn't anything to cause this. Zoro didn't joke; she knew that, knew almost instinctively he was being dead serious and perfectly straightforward, just like he always was. But nothing could do this to him. He'd gotten hit on the head, sure, but she'd hit him a lot worse without him even breaking a sweat. Maybe it was some sort of side effect, of the Nightmare stealing his Dreamshard—

Dreamshard.

_Dream._

"Oh, God," Nami rasped suddenly, putting her hand to her mouth in horror. She felt rather suddenly like being sick, but managed to suppress the urge with sheer force. "Oh, _no._ No, no, no, no _way,_ not possible..."

Robin nodded at her grimly. "I think you've come to the same conclusion I have, Navigator-san," she said, her voice quiet. She looked a bit pale.

"I haven't," Usopp said in exasperation. "One of you want to explain what's going on?" Sanji-kun nodded fiercely in agreement, too caught up in his own confusion to even lecture Usopp about his language towards the ladies.

"We've had it all wrong from the beginning," Nami said slowly. "The stories kept going on about dreams, dreams being stolen by Nightmares, and Nightmares roaming the island, and because of that we never considered anything else. We've been thinking of 'dreams' as visions we see at night, while we sleep, this whole time. But the people here—they tried to tell us even, in writing—they never meant _night-visions_, ever. These things don't steal our dreams."

Eyes still wide in horror, she met each and every other pirates' eyes, and said softly, "They steal our goals, our ambitions. They steal our _Dreams._"

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><p>Alright, all of you who've been theorizing this for a while now in your reviews, give yourselves pats on the backs. Good job. :)<p>

The other day a family friend's seven-year-old caught sight of my stack of _One Piece_ DVD's and started asking me questions about all the chars on the cover. He thought Chopper was cute, Zoro (and his 3-sword style, but ironically not his hair color) was 'weird,' and seemed excited that they were pirates. But the best reaction of all was when I told him "This guy is a pirate captain and he's made of _rubber,_ so he stretches really far!" And I got a very, very _familiar_ reaction:  
>"O_O :D AWESOME!"<br>Thereby proving Luffy appeals to all ages, haha!

~VelkynKarma


	9. Dreamless

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part nine of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Holy shit guys...**CuriousVortex** made me fanart!

h t t p : / / akimichiko . deviantart . com / art / Asteria-Nightmare-Harvester-262426050

h t t p : / / akimichiko . deviantart . com / art / Asteria-Nightmare-Next-Level-262427270

I'm tickled pink, I've never gotten fanart before...this totally made my day, to know my words and ideas can inspire visuals X3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"I don't really know how to say it, but, um—uh, what's it like to be a character in a dream? 'Cause, uh, I'm not awake right now."<br>~_Wake Walking Dream_—Eskimo (Dance)

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><p>For almost a full minute, the five pirates stood or sat in stunned silence, minds whirling furiously as they struggled to come to grips with what Nami had unexpectedly deduced.<p>

Usopp was the first to shatter that quiet, just like he had before. "No way, Nami. That's just...no way. That can't happen. Those things have to have just stolen his memories, not...not his _dream_..." But he looked sick at the prospect all the same.

"No," Sanji-kun said, very slowly. He was frowning at Zoro now, a confused, frustrated expression, like he wanted to hit the swordsman but couldn't quite bring himself to do it. "It can't be memory loss. He called me lo—uh, that is, he recognized me." He winced a little at the end, and if the situation hadn't been so serious Nami would have laughed at the cook almost acknowledging one of Zoro's insulting names for himself.

"But...but stealing a person's goals? How is that even possible?" Usopp asked, almost timidly, like he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Like you just said yourself," Nami said, voice weak, "anything is possible in this world, especially on the Grand Line. If minerals can be taken from people...why can't they also be goals, instead of night visions?"

"You want to all quit yappin' and explain why you're staring at me like I've got three heads?" Zoro said, his voice grating with both irritation and barely suppressed pain. "I'm right _here_ you know..."

"Shut up, marimo," Sanji-kun said, but it sounded almost absentminded, like his heart wasn't really in it.

"There is a simple way to test whether or not the loss is that of memory, or dreams," Robin said slowly. "By means of a few quick questions, no less. If I may?" Nobody dissented, and Sanji-kun encouraged her with enthusiasm, so the archeologist crouched down carefully in front of Zoro to meet the sitting, curled over swordsman at eye level.

"Good morning, Zoro-san," she offered, and Nami blinked in surprise at the absence of her usual title for the swordsman. "Might I ask you a few questions?"

"Don't see why not," Zoro said shortly, regarding the historian with a flat look. "Long as you quit starin' at me funny like the others, that's getting annoying."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Robin answered crisply. "Now then. You're a bounty hunter, aren't you, Zoro-san?"

Zoro blinked at her, and the dark lines under his eyes, alongside his disbelieving stare, made him look rather owlish and surprised. "What kind of stupid question is that? Are you feelin' sick or something?"

"Please just humor me, Zoro-san."

Zoro sighed. "Fine. No, I'm not a bounty hunter. I_ used_ to be a bounty hunter, until Luffy recruited me."

Robin nodded. "I see. And why did Luffy recruit you?"

Zoro shrugged, winced slightly when it pulled at his bitten arm. "No particular reason. He was building a pirate crew and he said he wanted some strong people on it."

"Strong how, Zoro-san?"

"Just _strong!_" Zoro hissed in exasperation. He looked agitated now, like he had something important on the tip of his tongue, at the back of his mind, but couldn't quite reach it. "He wants to be the Pirate King, for hell's sake. Of course he needs strong crew members to back him up."

"Of course, Zoro-san," Robin placated agreeably. "You are absolutely correct." Almost immediately, the agitation seemed to melt out of the swordsman, and he curled over tiredly against the wall again.

"Do you remember what I do on the ship?" Robin questioned next. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji-kun exchanged confused looks at the question, but were smart enough to keep silent. Robin seemed to have some sort of plan in mind, and it'd be best if they didn't interrupt it.

Zoro shrugged absently. "You're an archaeologist, right?"

"That is correct. And why am I traveling with your crew?"

The swordsman seemed to be rapidly loosing interest at the questioning, and gave a tired yawn that turned partway into a rasping breath. "You're one of us." And when Robin continued to watch him patiently, waiting, he added, "Looking for those poneglyphs, right? For the True History, or something like that."

"That is correct, Zoro-san. And what about her?" Robin said next, pointing with a spontaneously grown third hand in Nami's direction. Nami flinched slightly as Zoro's gaze shifted to her—he really _did_ look terrible—but there wasn't any flicker of confusion in his eyes, and he obviously recognized her.

"You're asking a lot of weird questions," Zoro said, sounding a little irritated now. "That's Nami. She's our navigator. Wants to make a map of the world when we finally see everything."

"Correct," Robin answered, and promptly questioned the swordsman in turn about each and every other crew members' names, occupations on the ship, and personal goals. Zoro, with traces of irritation, disinterest, and mounting fatigue, answered all the questions accurately and precisely. He definitely hadn't lost his memories, Nami had to admit grimly, after several more minutes of Robin's vague questioning. But something _definitely_ was wrong with him.

"You seem very knowledgeable about all of us, Zoro-san," Robin finally commented, many minutes later.

"I'm supposed to be," Zoro said, almost absently.

Robin raised an eyebrow delicately. "Why is that, Zoro-san?"

The swordsman blinked in confusion. "Why is what?" he asked, clearly puzzled. Nami's eyes widened a little in surprise. It was like he hadn't even noticed that he'd said anything at all. Like when one saw movement out of the corner of their eye, but when they focused on it directly, there was nothing really there; or like how one might hear voices or sounds while not really paying attention, but when that focus was sharpened, there was really nothing but silence. The comment seemed to slip out without the swordsman even hearing it, or realizing it.

"Why are you supposed to be so knowledgeable about us," Robin clarified very carefully.

Zoro frowned, and for a fraction of an instant he seemed to go rigid. "I...Luffy...promise...protect...p-protect the c-crew," he rasped suddenly, and it was like the words came from far away, and he was dragging them a million miles off through thick mud and treacherous seas to make them be heard at all. He was staring, but he didn't seem to see them, either; and his breath had increased noticeably. After a few moments he tried to force more words out. "Promised...because...because..." his brows knit in confusion, and his lips twisted into a grimace as he tried hard to find an answer. "Because..."

"That you made a promise to Luffy is enough," Robin interjected smoothly, and though her voice was as calm as always, Nami could see a hint of a frown on her face. Almost immediately, the strained signs in Zoro vanished; his breathing righted itself, his eyes snapped back into focus, and he stopped muttering.

"Yeah," he answered simply, and it was as if the momentary lapse hadn't happened at all. "Of course. Luffy's like that."

"Indeed," Robin agreed. She hesitated, seemed to be fighting with herself over wether or not to continue questioning the swordsman, but after a moment she spoke once more. "Zoro-san," she said slowly, "You've explained why everybody else is on the crew, what they do, and what their goals are. Can you remind me why you are here?"

Zoro rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I thought you were supposed to remember everything," he said, sounding annoyed. "Fine. I decided to join Luffy because I'm—"

Unexpectedly, Zoro seemed to snap.

One moment, he was talking just as he always had, bored, laid back, with that permanent frown on his face that Nami had come to accept as his default expression. And if his skin looked a little gray, or if he looked a little tired, well, it was _Zoro_ after all...he almost always looked completely beat up at some point during their more adventurous moments. But as he began to explain why he joined Luffy, what his job on the ship was, what his dream was, he changed with such alarming speed that Nami could almost have sworn she heard the glass shattering as his mind panicked, came to sudden terms with the fact that _something that should have been there wasn't._

Zoro's eyes flew open, his teeth snapped together in a pained grimace, his lips peeled back as an unnatural, twisted _whine_ seemed to escape his throat. His head whipped back, nearly smashing into the stone wall behind him in the process, and both his hands flew to his skull, clenching wildly into his short green hair as though desperate to claw at the recesses of his own head, his own _mind,_ and find whatever had been hidden there...or _taken_ from it. Before they could react he'd curled forward again, crouching and resting his cradled head and hands precariously on elbows that dug into his knees, and he looked for all the world like he was about to be violently sick.

"D-damn it," he stammered, breathing heavily, and his voice came out as a pained rasp. "Don't...don't know...can't...I...can't...rem-member...can't...lost...can't...s-stolen...stolen..._stolen..._"

The remaining Straw Hats were alarmed, and even Robin looked taken aback by the reaction. It was like Zoro had completely lost it; like something so vital had been ripped from his person that he couldn't function properly without it. And Nami realized, with a stunned sort of horror, that that was _exactly_ the case.

"S-stop that, Zoro," Usopp practically whimpered. "You're freaking me out...that's the same chanting as last night..."

"Shut the hell up right now, marimo, or I swear I'll make you!" Sanji-kun added in agreement, although his combined threat and order sounded more frightened than angry, and Nami had a feeling that the cook wouldn't actually go through with it.

But Zoro ignored them both, and continued to curl forward on himself, falling dangerously quickly into the same chanting pattern he'd been in last night, while unconscious. "Lost...d-don't know...c-can't remember...stolen...stolen...stolen..."

"Zoro!" Nami called in a panic, mind whirling frantically as she tried to come up with some solution. _Lie through your teeth_ her instincts told her, and she did so. "Geez, what are you freaking out over, Zoro? We were just playing games with you. Luffy _obviously_ hired you on as a little extra muscle is all, there's no need to make such a fuss over it."

Almost instantly the chanting seemed to cease, and Zoro's ragged breathing slowed. "Muscle?" he rasped slowly, and his voice sounded incredibly hoarse, like he'd spent the past six hours screaming.

"Y-yeah," Usopp jumped in, thankfully picking up on Nami's strategy. "You said you wanted to be the strongest guy in the world, and Luffy liked the sound of that, so you joined the Straw Hat pirate crew!"

"The strongest..." Zoro frowned suddenly, and he looked confused, but thankfully it wasn't that wild, panicked, cracked confusion that they'd seen in him just seconds ago. "Wait. Wouldn't that interfere with Luffy's dream? The Pirate King is the strongest, isn't he?"

"You wouldn't be interfering with that," Nami edited hastily, and her mind whirled as she tried to pare down Zoro's swordsman dream into something acceptable enough to keep his mind from breaking again at the loss it couldn't seem to comprehend. "Luffy's goal involves finding One Piece, right? He's got to be strong, but he's got to be a strong _pirate_. You just...y'know—"

"Prove that you can beat anybody with your bare hands," Sanji-kun interjected suddenly, "And you never back down once you get in a fight, 'cause you swore once that you'd never lose again after you got the crap kicked out of you by...by a really strong Shichibukai."

Nami shot Sanji-kun a grateful look, glad that the cook was picking up on the strategy as well. Sanji-kun responded with a quick nod, and she could see in his eye that he'd been just as shaken by Zoro's unexpected reaction.

"Right," Zoro said slowly. "Sounds right...yeah..." and to Nami's surprise, he was already starting to recover from the ordeal, sitting back up slowly against the stone wall and dropping his hands into his lap. The episode hadn't been without cost—Zoro was clearly exhausted even further from the panic attack—but at least he was returning to his usual ways of acting. And Nami was a little stunned at how fast his mind seemed to accept the piecemeal explanation she, Usopp and Sanji-kun had woven together about his very reason for being with them in the first place.

"Thank you, Zoro-san," Robin said with a nod, coming to her feet. "I appreciate you answering my questions, even if they were a bit silly. Please rest a bit, as you are injured and we will be moving out soon." Zoro snorted but almost gratefully obliged, tilting his head back against the stone wall and closing his eyes.

Once assured that he was sleeping, the four remaining pirates shifted to the other side of the little cellar and held a brief meeting. "That was weird," Nami began slowly. "Every time we even got close to his identity as a swordsman, or his dream, it's like he started having a panic attack or something."

Robin nodded grimly in agreement. "His memories of everything else remain intact, but when anything about his dream is approached, he responds in the same way. He seems to have forgotten all of it...not just his goal, and his role on the crew, but also associated memories."

"He forgot how to use his swords too," Usopp added grimly. "Remember? Right after the Harvester stole his...his Dreamshard...he stood up again, but he wasn't holding his swords right at all. Even I could tell that. Like he didn't know how to use them and was just _holding_ them."

"Then it is true," Sanji-kun said slowly, gritting his teeth. "In which case..."

"_Luffy,_" Nami said, voicing what was on their minds. "Oh, _dammit_...Luffy's dream..."

Usopp looked horrified. "Luffy couldn't live without his dream," he said slowly. "Luffy's whole existence _is_ to be the Pirate King. If that was taken away from him..."

"Then he'd be a catatonic mess," Sanji-kun finished, and Robin nodded in quiet agreement. "Just like he is now."

They were silent for several moments, glancing over unconsciously at the slumbering Zoro as they thought about exactly what this new discovery meant. Luffy's dream, stolen. Luffy, unable to be the Pirate King, because he was a pale-skinned, unconscious ghost of his former self. Luffy, unable to even _remember_ that he wanted to _be_ the Pirate King, because that dream had been viciously torn from him in a way that no other trauma, dangerous situation, or series of impossible odds had ever been able to manage before.

And Zoro, too. Zoro, who for as long as Nami could remember—and she'd been around far longer than most of the other crew members—had always claimed, over and over, that he'd be the worlds greatest swordsman. Was willing to risk impossible battles and dangerous odds, lose his own limbs, lose his own _life_, for the sake of achieving that goal. It was almost as much a part of his very existence as Luffy's dream was to the captain. Both of those dreams were so ingrained in such a core part of their very beings that without them, Luffy and Zoro wouldn't be...well..._Luffy_ and _Zoro_.

It wasn't fair to let those things be stolen from them. It wasn't fair, not when Luffy and Zoro both had done _so much_ to defend the rest of the crew's dreams. Not when Luffy had freed both her _and_ Robin from the shackles of their pasts, allowed them to live freely; Not when Zoro never patronized Usopp for his desire to be a strong fighter, or always reassured the timid Chopper that the doctor's treatments were working just fine, every time. Not when the _both_ of them never doubted for an instant that every single crew member's dreams were worthwhile, were possible, and defended both the dreams and the people they belonged to without a shred of hesitation. It just wasn't fair, after all that, for the two of them to have their own dreams ripped away from them.

It wasn't fair, and they had to do something about it. "We need to get their dreams back," Nami said, slowly at first, but with mounting strength. "We _need_ to get their Dreamshards back. I don't care how long it takes, but we can't leave them _empty_ like this." As one, they glanced at Zoro, and Nami knew almost instinctively they were all thinking for their ashen, slumbering captain back in the infirmary of the _Thousand Sunny_ as well.

"I agree," Sanji-kun said almost immediately, and while Nami had expected him to agree with her—he always did—there was a sense of approval and genuine belief in his tone as well.

"I as well," Robin said.

"And me," Usopp agreed, putting on what he probably assumed was a fierce face. His knees were still shaking a little, but he, just like Sanji-kun, seemed to genuinely accept without a trace of hesitation that their nakama's dreams couldn't be simply abandoned, not now. "But how do we do it?"

"Do not forget the stories," Robin said quietly. "Although legends of old, they have been quite accurate so far. And in those stories, the Nightmare servants always bring the dreams they catch to the Queen of the Night for her to feed upon them. If such a creature exists, logic would dictate that she lives at the heart of the nest, in the city."

Nami paled at the thought of her friends' dreams being consumed by some nightmarish creature, and shuddered at the thought of entering the city, but Robin was right: it was the best place to look. "Agreed," she said shortly, "But we should return to the ship first, before we try tackling that. That city is going to be deadly no matter how we look at it, and we'll need to be fully prepared, with the full crew. And..." She hesitated, glanced at Zoro, and then back to the group. "And we should probably drop him off back at the ship, too. In his state he probably can't fight, and even if he _does_ know how to fistfight—" she _had_ seen him punch out a sky shark after all, and he won the Groggy Ring second round without swords too— "he's probably too weak to be of much help. He looks pretty terrible."

"Yeah," Sanji-kun agreed, "he'd only get in the way." He scowled over at Zoro, although Nami had the distinct impression he was more pissed about what had happened to their currently-not-a-swordsman to put him in that state than he was about Zoro being unable to fight.

"Okay," Usopp summarized, "So we head back to the ship today, come up with a new attack plan, and then head to the city to find this...this Queen of the Night. Whatever she is." He did not look happy at the thought of approaching what they were sure would be a nest of the horrific creatures on the island, but he understood as well as the others that it would be the only way to win back those dreams that had been so wrongfully stolen. So even if his knees were still shaking, his voice had some measure of strength to it.

It was as good a plan as any for now, so they once again collected together their packs and prepared to move out. Sanji-kun was still their strongest fighter with Zoro incapacitated, so he volunteered—or more like insisted upon—going first to protect Nami and Robin (and the others too, Nami knew, although he'd probably never actively admit to it). Nami kept her Clima-Tact at the ready, prepared to use high-voltage shocks to keep anything to attack them at bay, and Robin was also prepared to try and stall any Nightmares they might come across on the way back.

That left Usopp with the job of helping Zoro. It took the sniper five minutes of frustrated shaking to actually wake their not-quite-swordsman, and when Zoro finally _did_ awaken it seemed the brief catnap hadn't done him any good at all; the dark lines were still under his eyes, and his skin was still pale and touched with gray. He staggered to his feet with Usopp's help when the sniper pulled him up, and almost immediately tripped and fell again, forcing Usopp to catch him frantically and then sling one of the not-swordsman's arms around his shoulders to hold him up.

They left as quickly as they could, which was depressingly slowly in Nami's opinion. Sanji-kun went ahead to scout the surrounding streets, and reported back that there were no creatures as far as he could tell, but that was the only positive aspect of their initial escape. Getting Zoro up the cellar steps was a veritable nightmare in and of itself, as he seemed oddly uncoordinated now, and was only managed with the combined efforts of Usopp and Robin's many hands. Once outside on the streets they were able to move a little faster, but were still slowed by their not-quite-swordsman, who, even with Usopp's help, didn't appear to be able to move very fast; he acted especially exhausted, like he hadn't slept in days, and looked like he was ready to pass out at any moment. In fact, several times Nami thought that he even_ had_ passed out for a few moments, when his head hung limply and his body sagged and Usopp panted as he more dragged than held up the pirate.

The falling didn't help, either. Nami hadn't expected it at first, but barely a minute into their escape she heard Usopp's sudden yelp of surprise from behind, mingled with Zoro's muffled curse, a heavy _thud_ and the clatter of sword sheathes as the two of them hit the ground. For a moment Nami thought they were being attacked, and spun around frantically, the tip of her Clima-Tact already sparking with electricity. But when the only sight that met her eyes was Zoro and Usopp, sprawled in an untidy mess on the broken cobblestones of the street, she tentatively lowered the weapon.

"You okay?" she asked, as a dozen arms sprouted from the ground and pulled the sniper and not-swordsman to their feet. "What happened?"

"Fine," Usopp gasped faintly. "Thanks, Robin."

"Tripped," Zoro offered curtly, panting slightly.

"Tripped on _what,_ marimo?" Sanji-kun hissed, after turning back to find out why the little column he was leading had stopped moving. "The street here is _flat_, you lumbering idiot, there's nothing to trip over other than your own damn feet!"

"Shut the hell up, curly-brow," Zoro snarled back.

"Oh?" Sanji-kun retorted. "And are you going to make me—"

"Sanji-kun," Nami interrupted sharply. "Enough." Sanji-kun bit off his words immediately with a clipped apology, and Nami couldn't really blame him. There was a lot riding on his shoulders right now, as the main fighter and the only real protector left in their little group, and he was clearly anxious that Zoro's inability to move very fast was holding them all up. The longer they stayed out in the open, and especially in Remia, the more chances there were for them to be attacked, and Nami resolutely did _not_ want to give those things any more chances than were absolutely necessary.

Sanji-kun took the lead again, and another two minutes passed in near-silence, other than the shuffle of their feet on cobblestones. But once again, a startled yelp and another curse came from behind as Zoro and Usopp tripped—and another after that, and another after that. Robin picked them up effortlessly each time without a word, and although Sanji-kun was gritting his teeth so hard Nami could hear the grinding even from several paces behind him, he remained silent as ordered.

It was Zoro, in the end, who broke the quiet—for an entirely unexpected reason. "Damn it!" he swore in frustration, as he and Usopp hit the streets for a fifth time in as many minutes. "Why the hell do I even _have_ these stupid things anyway if I'm a frikkin' fist-fighter!"

Nami looked back, and was surprised to see Zoro glaring furiously at the three katana on his hip. He awkwardly tried to reach at them with the arm not looped around Usopp's neck, but his hand and fingers held no coordination for the blades whatsoever, and he only managed to scrape at them clumsily.

She blinked in surprise. "Zoro, you can't be tripping on your _swords_, can you?" she asked, sounding as bewildered as she felt.

As before, his mind seemed to conveniently overlook that Nami had mentioned the swords belonged to him. "Of course I am," he said in exasperation. "Look at how long these stupid things are...it's ridiculous. And why are there three of them? Who the hell uses _three_ swords? I've never seen anything like that in my life."

"It's possible," Sanji-kun said wryly from beside Nami. "There's this jackass who uses this 'Santoryuu' style, that's three swords."

Nami elbowed him in the ribs. He grunted and whined a lovesick apology, but she ignored it, instead addressing Zoro, who was wincing slightly from the mention of his own unrecognized sword style. "You just, y'know, carry them around for us, remember? Since you're the strongest guy on the crew, you do a lot of the heavy lifting."

"One of them is pretty heavy," the not-swordsman observed absently, giving the swords on his hip another baleful look. "Why the hell would we need swords out here, though? Brook's the only swordsman—"

"To cut through things!" Usopp interrupted hastily. "Because there's so many trees, we figured we might have to cut through the underbrush, you know? And we figured we'd bring three, just to be safe, never know how many you'll need—"

"Whatever," Zoro said in exasperation, and Nami noted with disappointment that once again, the absence of his dream was causing his mind to immediately and automatically accept any substitute explanations to fill the void in his head. "They're annoying, and I keep tripping over them 'cause they're so long."

In retrospect, Nami realized, this was probably why Zoro almost _always_ walked with one hand on the swords, to keep the sheathes tilted upwards so they didn't get underfoot. And he did sort of have an unusual gait too, now that she thought about it, which was probably also attributed to carrying three swords on his hip at all times. Of course, without his dream, all that basic training and understanding would have been lost...

"We'll move them," Nami decided. If Zoro remembered any of this later, once they got his dream back, he'd probably try to kill the lot of them for handling his precious swords. But for now the most important thing was staying alive—and if they could prevent the constant tripping episodes and speed up their progress a little, staying alive would be a tiny bit easier. "Just hand them over and we can tie them across your back or something."

Robin hauled the two of them to their feet once again, and Zoro did immediately as bid while Usopp dug through his bag one-handed for a bit of spare rope or cloth to bind the weapons. He pulled the red and black sheathed swords from the haramaki and sword-belt beneath with some difficulty, and Nami was sure it had nothing to do with currently being one handed. Zoro had always been ambidextrous enough to draw his weapons with either hand at a moment's notice; this new awkwardness was entirely due to unfamiliarity, wrong as it looked. But soon the two swords had been dropped in Nami's outstretched, waiting hands, and he moved to hand her the third one, the white one that had always remained most precious to their currently not-a-swordsman.

As soon as his hand touched the sword sheath, he immediately bit back a curse and released it. "Damn," he hissed, "what the hell, is this sword different from the others? It _burns_."

Nami frowned at him. "You're imagining things," she said immediately. "It's just a sword." She thought, anyway. She didn't really know much about Zoro's swords, other than that one was particularly special to him. "And it's been in the cool cellar all night, there's no way it could've been heated up by accident or anything."

"Uh-huh," he scowled at her. "Then explain this." And he held out his palm, which had the faint red traces of an early burn.

Usopp gaped in surprise, and Nami could hear a sharp intake of breath from behind her, likely from Robin. Nami herself could only stare, unsure what to make of it. The sword had never exhibited any fire-related powers as far as she could tell, and Zoro had never had a problem using it before. She was fairly certain he'd never use a weapon that burned so fiercely in his mouth otherwise—well, that was as lie, as considering it was _Zoro_ she really couldn't be certain. But she _was_ fairly sure she would have at least noticed if he was talking funny after battles from a badly burned tongue, or something.

Though, then again, the white sword _had_ exhibited a few other unusual qualities recently...like being the only weapon in their arsenal that was able to wound the Nightmares at all. Something in her gut told her there was a connection between that and what was happening now...and maybe that Zoro had lost his dream, as well.

She kept her thoughts to herself for the present moment, however. Explaining it to the others would also require mentioning Zoro's dream, and she didn't want him to have another brain-breaking moment in the middle of the streets. So instead she said, "Never mind, I'll just get it," and with many long years of practice as a thief snapped the sword from the belt it was connected to before Zoro could do so much as utter a word. She bound the three swords together with a length of rope that Usopp handed her and then, after a moment's consideration, slung them across her own back with her pack as well. Zoro clearly wouldn't get burned if clothing was in between him and the white sword, or he probably would have complained earlier, but if he or Usopp carried them he stood the chance of touching it again. Probably best to keep him away from his swords for now.

Damn...when Zoro got his dream back and remembered all this, he was going to kill _every last one of them._

Still, shifting the swords did seem to help, and when they moved on a few moments later it was at a notably slightly faster pace. Zoro still looked exhausted, and Usopp was still supporting at least half of the not-swordsman's weight—more when Zoro's strange passing-out fits hit—but without the swords to tangle them up there was at least no more tripping and no more wild stumbles. They made it to the outskirts of Remia in record time, and began making their long way down the road as fast as they could.

One hour passed, then another. They were making worse time than they'd originally made while traveling to Remia, and Zoro started passing out for a few minutes at a time more often the longer they moved without stopping. It was frustrating, but even so, they were still making progress. Usopp traded off with Robin for bit after the first hour, allowing her to throw Zoro's arm over her shoulders to support his weight, aided by her many limbs, while Usopp walked for a while with his slingshot out and a gunpowder pellet loaded. They switched again after another forty-five minutes, taking back their original positions, just so that they could keep half-walking, half-dragging their not-swordsman along for as long as possible without taking a rest break.

Through it all Sanji-kun remained at the front, ever alert, constantly looking back and forth at the beautiful red, gold, orange, and yellow-crested trees, peering into there depths to try and spot any potential threats. Nami kept her own eyes open for the creatures as well, her grip on the Clima-Tact white-knuckled as she listened, watched, and waited.

It was too much to hope that they would be able to exit the forest without sight of the creatures, and Nami knew it. Even so, with all their careful attempts at keeping watch, at being ready, they had barely seconds' worth of warning when the actual attack came. A soft rustle to her left could easily have been mistaken for wind, except that she could feel quite clearly that there was no wind at the moment, and the shuffling of grounded leaves might have been animals, if she wasn't reasonably sure by now that there were no normal animals on this island.

"Look out!" Sanji-kun called warningly over his shoulder, at the same time that Nami hefted her Clima-Tact, the end sparking once more. And then, like a pair of converging waves, the creatures suddenly swarmed out of the trees on both sides, more of them than Nami had ever seen before, and she felt her heart sinking at the realization that this fight was going to be impossible to win.

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><p><strong>Fun Fact:<strong> My sense of direction is nearly as bad as Zoro's is. And I really wish I could say I was just making that up. (The only reason it is 'almost' as opposed to 'the same as' is because I recognize that my sense of direction is terrible). Man do I have stories. They're funny _and_ depressing.

~VelkynKarma


	10. Dreamshards

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part ten of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Amusement:** I was watching a commentary episode with Eric Vale (Funimation's Sanji) on my new _One Piece_ DVD's. Apparently he's more than familiar with his Japanese counterpart, because when he was talking about character range and explained the characteristic high-pitched Sanji, he practically squealed 'Nami-swan.' I had to laugh since it sounds bizarre in English XD

**Note:** Well Robin did say there were four...  
>h t t p :  / tinypic . com / r / ng6k9k / 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"When in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns."<br>~Raymond Chandler

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><p>The Nightmares surged forward in a violent, hissing rush from the trees, scrabbling forward with hundreds of <em>click-clacks<em> and _thud-scrapes_ as they ripped free from the brush. Nami still didn't know how such large things managed to move so silently through the trees, but they obviously didn't care about that now, and leaves rustled and branches groaned and cracked under the unexpected onslaught.

There were more than three of them. There were more than a _dozen_ of them. Nami stared in horror as the creatures streamed toward them. More emerged from the trees, shuffling dozens of inappropriate, ugly limbs as they moved, emitting dozens of low hisses and short barks. The majority of them were the Harvesters—Nami could tell by now they were the grunts of the Nightmare 'army'—but dotted here and there were Shepherds, obviously divided up to accurately herd their respective charges. And something else slithered out of the darkness of the trees as well: a strange, snakelike creature, with dozens of arms bursting from its twisting frame, arms that it walk-slithered on with surprising surety.

"Robin?" Nami gasped, sounding panicked, as she stared at the new creature with wide eyes.

"It isn't me," the archaeologist said curtly from nearby, but Nami could all but hear the tension in her voice. Then, much louder, came _"Ochenta Fleur!"_

Arms sprouted all over the ground around around the five pirates, reaching up and snatching at the many limbs of the Nightmares surging towards them. Some of the creatures, especially the Harvesters, Robin managed to bring to an abrupt halt and fasten even more securely with still more arms. But many more of the creatures broke her attacks, or slashed at her limbs with scythe-arms, tail blades, and clawed legs, causing her to groan and the arms to vanish in swirls of petals.

"Too many," Robin gasped. "Get out of—"

Whatever she had been about to say, Nami never heard it all. The Nightmares were still surging forward, screeching all the more angrily now that some of their kin had been stopped, and others farther back in the lines simply clambered over their incapacitated brethren to make for the Straw Hats. Nami dodged right wildly as a Harvester's mandible-jaws reached out for her, and found herself sharply bowled aside as the creature plunged between her and their archaeologist.

Nami tried to turn around, to go back and help, but the hit from the Harvester—even while glancing—sent her spinning. She crashed to the ground, and it was only thanks to the painfully tight, white-knuckled grip on her Clima-Tact that she managed to keep it from flying off into the crowd of creatures. Disoriented, she tried to stagger to her feet, aware that she had only a few precious seconds to protect herself and her dream and she was wasting them—

A black shape darted out of the screeching, writhing, horrifying mess around her, heading straight for where she was crouching on her hands and knees. She screamed in a panic, tried to raise the Clima-Tact up to defend herself, knew she wouldn't be fast enough, and that horrible _thing_ was going to get her—

_"Nami-san!"_ Sanji-kun yelled, and the navigator realized with a start that the shape was far too small to be a Nightmare, and that none of the creatures wore suits or had blond hair. Before she could so much as breathe a sigh of relief, Sanji-kun had hooked an arm around her waist, crouched low, and propelled the two of them straight up in perhaps one of the highest jumps Nami had ever seen any pure non-Devil-Fruit using human perform, ever. She screamed again as her stomach was left behind on the ground—and Sanji-kun's arm looped around her waist didn't help matters any, tight as it was—but still had the presence of mind to keep a firm hold of her own weapon, at least.

"My apologies, Nami-san," Sanji-kun yelled over the screeching Nightmares to her. "I didn't mean to grab you so brutishly, please forgive me!"

"Whatever, I'm alive!" she shouted back, as she tried to reorient her vision to suddenly being _above_ the battle. They were reaching the apex of Sanji-kun's jump now, which meant they'd be going down shortly after, and she wanted to use the moment as much to her advantage as she could.

The creatures were still swarming out of the trees, a disgusting, wild mass of ugly bug-parts (she shuddered) and other nasty attributes out of a person's worst nightmares. Right where they'd been just a few seconds ago, a Harvester was now standing, clacking its mandibles in disappointment at the meal it had just missed (Nami shuddered again, and mentally thanked Sanji-kun profusely for his timely save). Eyes flicking about the battleground frantically, Nami looked for some sort of hint, _any_ sort of hint, as to how they could get out of this situation alive.

Her eyes fell on a writhing mass of shadow, back up the road, the way they had come. It wasn't the shadow that caught her attention, however, so much as the glittering _within_ the mass. Confused, she narrowed her eyes and squinted, trying as hard as she could to make out the details as they hit their peak and slowly began to be dragged down again.

The shape resolved itself in a sudden flourish, and Nami gasped in surprise. It was hard to describe as a creature, really, although she was sure it was a Nightmare, another new kind they hadn't seen yet. This one seemed to consist more of shadow than of real, living flesh. It had a long, whipcord-lean body, a tiny head with far too many eyes set on a long, maneuverable neck, and the vaguest hint of a humanoid torso and shoulders, although it quickly descended into a snakelike lower half where the hips should have been. Nami had read about some old fairy tale creatures called _nagas_ in her younger years, and this was vaguely reminiscent of that. But instead of humanoid arms, it had two long, whiplike appendages, which twisted and curled like snakes and seemed to have lives of their own.

One of the long vine-like arms was curled many times over, delicately supporting what appeared to be a small, dark basket in its spiraling coils. And although Nami couldn't see the contents of the basket, she _could_ see the bright glow they were casting on the inner walls of the dark little container. She had only seen a few things glow like that in her time, and could think of only one thing on _this_ island that could cause such a brilliant light.

_Dreamshards,_ she thought. _That thing is their collector. I bet Luffy's and Zoro's dreams are in there!_

She opened her mouth to tell Sanji-kun about her discovery, but an ear-bleeding, loss-drenched scream interrupted her. Nami's eyes widened in horror. She had only heard it twice, from two different people no less, but she knew what that sound meant—and she also knew who was making it.

They were still dropping back towards the horde of Nightmares, but Nami looked around frantically all the same. A little behind her she spotted the snake-arm..._thing_...its reptilian mouth opened in a macabre parody of a pleased grin as it held something in its many arms out to one of the Harvesters. Nami realized with a twist of frustration and fear that it was Robin—and that, just as she had realized, the archaeologist was the source of the screaming.

The flash of the Dreamshard being removed hit them just as Sanji-kun hit the ground, screaming frantically, "Robin-chan! _Robin-chan!_" over and over. He automatically steadied Nami as they landed, and they both charged forwards the Harvester attacking their fellow pirate, fury in their eyes.

_"You give that back,"_ Sanji-kun snarled, and leaped into the air, kicking down sharply to smash the Harvester into the ground. As in their other encounters, the creature was momentarily stunned, but began to recover with frightening speed, and did not relinquish the glittering shard in its mouth.

Nami began shifting her Clima-Tact into the Cyclone form once more, hoping to blow away some of the danger so that the crew could—hopefully—regroup. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten to take into account the snake-arm, which emitted a laughing hiss and dropped Robin's limp, groaning form to the ground without a shred of care—and surged towards the navigator.

Nami shrieked in surprise and hurled the two ends of the Clima-Tact at the creature with a squawk of _"Cyclone Tempo!"_ The snake-arm took the blast full in the chest and was hurtled backwards, but almost as soon as it smashed into the ground it righted itself and began to slither forward over its brethren once more, still chuckling. Still, the move had bought her a few seconds, and she turned her weapon on the Harvester Sanji-kun was still fighting, hoping to aid him in retrieving the Dreamshard. He was kicking the creature repeatedly in the head and neck, dodging its stabbing tail, limbs and fangs in his attempts, but the creature furiously refused to relinquish its prize.

A high, piercing whistle resounded up and down the road. Nami jerked suddenly as she recognized the sound from the night in Remia when they battled three of the Nightmares—it was the same sound that had abruptly called the creatures away. This time, Nami was able to draw a bead on where the whistle came from—back up the road, towards Remia, where they'd come from. And just as before, there was an almost immediate reaction from the Nightmares: the Harvester fighting Sanji-kun spun and hurtled itself away from him and back up the road towards the noise, while the snake-arm abandoned its beeline for Nami and turned around to meet it, as though escorting it back.

_They're going back to that...that basket-monster,_ Nami realized. _It must've made the sound. I bet it can control them...and it makes a priority of retrieving Dreamshards. That's why the creatures left last night...they had Zoro's shard, and they didn't want to risk losing it!_

"Sanji-kun, regroup!" she ordered sharply, and sent another cyclone burst into the hordes of Harvesters swarming around them in the general direction of where she thought Usopp and Zoro might be. The creatures scattered like bowling pins, shrieking angrily, and Sanji-kun stooped to pick up Robin's limp form before darting after Nami through the temporary clearing.

Usopp was doing little better than they. He'd managed to put up a surprisingly good defense against the Nightmares by utilizing his flash dial and powerful explosives, so thankfully the creatures hadn't been able to reach the pirates yet due to the regular stuns. But they were edging closer in between every one of Usopp's frantic attacks, and the sniper had been backed up against a thick red-leaved tree on the far side of the clearing. Worse, Zoro was leaning back against the tree as well with a dazed expression on his face. His fists were raised, but they were loose, and it was clearly only with the trunk at his back that he could even stand under his own power. He was obviously no help at all in the fight, just as Nami had feared, and had in fact turned into a liability as Usopp struggled to keep the creatures from seizing the not-swordsman and dragging him away to their Queen of the Night.

"Usopp!" she called out to the sniper, as another series of explosives flew over her and Sanji-kun's heads and sent a burst of flame-created light up behind them. The creatures shrieked, temporarily stalled in following them, and it gave them the precious seconds to join together once more. Sanji-kun placed Robin gently against the tree's trunk, sitting up—her eyes were open now, but they were confused, unfocused—and as one the pirates huddled into a loop with their backs to the tree, keeping Zoro and Robin encircled protectively.

Usopp moaned at the sight of Robin's dazed form. "They got her too? I thought it was her but I hoped not—"

"Focus," Nami ordered sharply, and threw another _Cyclone Tempo_ out to her left, while Usopp took over guarding their right side with his explosives. Sanji-kun crouched at the ready, fending off the occasional Harvester that managed to crawl too close, and for a moment at least their defense seemed like it was working. But Nami knew it wouldn't last, not while they grew exhausted and the swarm continued to grow. They needed a plan—but Nami thought she might have one.

"That thing in the back," she said quickly to the cook and sniper. "Do you see it? It's all shadows and weird octopus arms." They both glanced over and, after squinting through the haze of smoke residue from Usopp's explosives and the shadows on the path, nodded. "It's the leader, I'm sure," Nami said, sharing her observations as she swung the Clima-Tact again—her arm was starting to get tired, but she'd be damned if she gave up this early. "See how it's avoiding battle, it's not even coming into the swarm? I don't think it's much of a fighter—just a director, like a tactician. And—and I think it has Luffy's and Zoro's Dreamshards. By now, probably Robin's too."

Both Zoro and Robin groaned behind her at the mention of the missing shards, and Nami realized a bit too late it probably touched too closely to the holes now in their heads, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Usopp and Sanji-kun were both giving her their rapt attention, even while fending off the creatures to the best of their ability, and Usopp asked sharply, "So what do we do about it? There's no way we can get to them!"

"Not if we move fast," Nami said quickly. "They don't have very sharp reactions, I've noticed by now. And the Harvesters can't turn fast—they don't have a neck, so they have to rotate their whole bodies, and that takes them a while. As long as we avoid that...that arm thing...and the Shepherds, we should be fine."

"We'll never get Zoro and Robin through that, even so," Usopp shouted back, firing another series of flame stars. Nami hoped he wasn't going to run out of ammunition anytime soon—he was using far more than he usually did in this one battle.

"No, we can't all go," Nami decided. "You're right, they'll get hurt, and they'll slow us down. And we can't leave them unattended or they'll die. Usopp, you'll stay here with them. Sanji-kun, you jumped pretty high earlier—think you can get me over this swarm to that thing in the back?"

"Of course, Nami-san!" said immediately, and even in the heat of battle she could hear the vaguest hint of delight at being useful to her.

"Wait, wait, I could barely keep them off _Zoro_ before, and there's more of them now!" Usopp hissed. "How do you expect me to protect them _both?_"

"Don't need any protection," Zoro slurred from behind them, and attempted vainly to stumble to his feet and stagger forward to join the fight next to Sanji-kun. The cook kicked him backwards (very lightly, for Sanji-kun), and the not-quite-swordsman grunted as he collided with the tree trunk again and sank down next to Robin, who was muttering in confusion under her breath. The not-swordsman swore profusely, but did not attempt to get up again—probably, Nami thought grimly, because he couldn't.

"You're right," Nami agreed after a moment. "There's no way—Sanji-kun! Can you lift them both up into the tree here, while me and Usopp keep the Nightmares away?"

"If you want, Nami-san," he said, though he looked a little doubtful. "How will that help?"

"They'll just knock the tree over," Usopp agreed, looking frightened. "Look at how huge they are!"

"I don't think they will, if you're in there too," Nami said grimly. She was starting to understand how these abominations worked a little more, and it seemed that the Dreamshards were paramount to them, above all other things. "You still have a potential shard for them to steal, so they won't risk killing you by smashing the tree over and you with it. And I think they're too big to climb the trees, the Harvesters anyway."

Usopp paled, and his whole body was shaking, though his hands were oddly steady as he fired off another round. "Okay...okay, yeah. That...that makes sense...just...just hurry, okay?"

"Right. Sanji-kun!"

"Right away!" the cook said. Stooping quickly, he scooped Robin up in his arms once again and, with a powerful leap, disappeared into the red-leaved lower branches of the tree trunk they were backed up against. Nami and Usopp were hard-pressed to keep the closer Nightmares at bay with combinations of weather and artillery, but by some miracle they managed it, and moments later Sanji-kun dropped out of the tree again and headed for Zoro.

"Not runnin' away," the not-swordsman hissed, weakly attempting to fend off Sanji-kun's hands.

"Just shut the hell up and follow the damn plan, marimo!" Sanji-kun snapped at him, and with a quick twist he managed to knock the wind out of Zoro with a knee to the stomach and in the same instant hook the pirate's arm around his shoulders before leaping back into the trees again.

"Done!" the cook shouted, a few moments later, as he dropped down for the second time. "I fit them into the forks of the branches so they won't fall out, they both passed out anyway. Usopp, switch!"

"Right!" The sniper shouted, and with a quick boost from Sanji-kun he too scrambled up into the tree. "Good luck guys, hurry!" he added, from within the depths of the red leaves.

"Let's go, Sanji-kun!" Nami shouted, refitting her Clima-Tact for battle.

"Of course, Nami-san! If I may?" he added, holding out his hands, and even in the fight he was grinning slightly. Nami fought the urge to roll her eyes and nodded—she needed Sanji-kun to get her close enough, after all. He lifted her quickly in his arms before charging forward and leaping into another high jump, straight over several of the Nightmares.

The leap took them very far, but it still made Nami dizzy to look down and see the things swarming hungrily towards the tree they had just left, moving like a living sea beneath her. For one terrifying moment as she looked back, it seemed as though the Harvesters _would_ knock the tree right over and try to rip Usopp and the others free from it. But seconds later several of the Shepherds emitted sharp, frustrated barks, and the Harvesters ground to a halt at the base of the trunk, clicking and rustling in impatience. They were lit up seconds later from several explosions, and Nami hastily looked away so that she wouldn't blind herself in the process. The things shrieked behind her.

"Sounds like Usopp can hold," she said out loud, looking forward.

"That's good," Sanji-kun said, although he sounded distracted. "Hold on, this is gonna be tricky—"

They were going down, and with a shriek of surprise Nami realized they were about to land on the very back of one of the nasty creatures they'd been fighting. She threw her arms around Sanji-kun's neck entirely out of panic (he actually _giggled_ almost gleefully) and barely managed to keep the Clima-Tact from smacking into the back of his skull (it would do no good to give her only current bodyguard a concussion, after all). They landed, and for one sickening moment her stomach lurched as the creature rumbled onward beneath them and Sanji-kun crouched. Then they shot forward again, and were suddenly in the air once more.

They leapfrogged between four other Harvesters, and the creatures barely seemed to notice their presence each time. They didn't seem able to jump, their neckless heads were incapable of looking up, and while they had many bulbous eyes, they didn't appear able to see above them that well. Nami felt her hopes rising as they got closer, and she could see the crazy shadow-monster and its precious basket growing larger as they grew near. They were going to make it—

There was a hissing rumble to their left, and Nami whipped her head around in time to see the snake-arm hurling itself at them from the low-hanging branches of a golden-leaved tree, its many arms outstretched. "Nami-san!" Sanji-kun yelled, twisting furiously, but they were still in midair and unable to dodge. Realizing they would take the hit regardless, the cook curled himself protectively around their navigator, and grunted in pain right in her ear as the creature slammed into them.

Then they were falling—Nami couldn't really see how, with her face pressed painfully into Sanji-kun's shoulder, but she could feel that much. At the last moment Sanji-kun shoved her away, and she crashed to the ground several feet from him, groaning in pain at the impact. She'd landed in an area relatively clear of the Nightmares—probably Sanji-kun's doing, seeing as he'd thrown her—but the creatures were already swarming towards her again. She threw another _Cyclone Tempo_ in their direction to drive them back, and then froze in horror as another loss-filled _shriek_ met her ears, from not too far away.

_"Sanji-kun!"_ she screamed in surprise, and made for the sound immediately. Damn it, and he wouldn't have been hit at all if she hadn't suggested this stupid plan! Of course the stupid Nightmares would guard their non-combatant leader, what had she been _thinking—_

Another _Cyclone_ blast cleared the way for her, and there was Sanji-kun, pinned to the ground by the snake-arm with a Harvester crouching over him, mandibles buried in his chest. His back was arched painfully up off the dirt, and seconds later another flash was emitted—she remembered to cover her eyes, just in time—as his Dreamshard was ripped free.

"Don't you dare," she gasped, as the creature bent for Sanji-kun again—his eyelids were fluttering dazedly already, and while that was the fastest recovery she'd seen yet he was still in no condition to defend himself. Thinking quickly, she activated the thunder charge on the end of her Clima-Tact and began swinging the weapon, running straight for the Harvester. The snake-arm tried to intercept, but she ducked under its grasping hands and lashed out with the fully charged Clima-Tact, hissing, _"Swing Arm!"_

The creature shrieked in surprise as the blinding electricity temporarily stunned it, and it froze. The snake-arm was turning for her again, but Nami was already moving, shifting the poles of the Clima-Tact by feel and experience alone. _"Cool charge,"_ she murmured under her breath, and swung the weapon as she dived for the prone Sanji-kun. Just as her fingers dug into the fabric of his collar, the dense cooler air she had forced into creation took effect, and with a shimmer the two of them disappeared into an illusion.

_"Mirage Tempo: Fata Morgana,"_ Nami finished, as the illusionary replicas shifted into being. In addition to her own four warped forms and normal appearance, Sanji-kun had also been replicated, due to his close proximity when she'd begun the defensive move. Five different Namis began attempting to drag off five different collapsed Sanji-kuns, searching desperately for some sort of escape. The move clearly had the creatures confused—the Harvesters, Shepherds, and even the snake-arm were regarding the ten humans curiously, unsure what to make of their sudden appearance—but Nami knew it was only a matter of time before they discovered the weakness, and she had to find a safe place by then. Stupid, stupid plan of hers, to plant themselves right in the middle of the stupid horde of _Nightmares._

Sanji-kun coughed and groaned, but to Nami's surprise managed to stagger drunkenly to his feet. "M-my apologies," he rasped slowly—it sounded like he hadn't drunk in days, and already he, too, looked as pale as Zoro had earlier. "I d-didn't mean to throw you like that, N-nami-san..."

"Fine," she gasped. "How are you standing? You can't fight, can you?"

"I th-think I can," he managed to stammer. He tapped his foot, a familiar gesture, although he looked so weary Nami didn't think his attacks would have much effect. "I think—"

The snake-arm lashed out at one of the illusionary Nami and Sanji-kun pairs, prompted to attack by Sanji-kun's unexpected recovery. The illusion vanished without a sound, and Nami yelped in surprise—that one had been very close. The creature started to pace closer, but once again the high, cold whistle sounded, and with a hiss of obvious disgust the arm-creature turned on its many limbs and scuttled after the Harvester bearing Sanji-kun's Dreamshard, escorting it to the leader.

And yet even without it being there, its attack had a deadly effect all the same. Heartened by the creature's progress in vanishing one of the illusions, the other Nightmares began swarming forward, clacking mandibles hungrily. Nami repelled several of them with another liberal usage of her _Cyclone Tempo_, careful where she thew it lest she displace the cool air creating their own defense, and Sanji-kun actually managed to stun two of the creatures with a pair of well-placed—if significantly weaker—kicks. Nami was surprised at his ability to put up a fight when Zoro had been completely useless, but that was a question to pursue later.

If there _was_ a later. The creatures were getting still closer, and even with the two pirates back to back there was no way they could fend off so many Harvesters, and Nami could see a pair of Shepherds approaching too. Fear filled her chest like a ball of heavy iron. It had been a good attempt, but they were going to die, there was no way to avoid it—

"Do you hear music?" Sanji-kun asked, with the slurred tone and absentmindedness that Nami had already come to associate with Zoro's new behavior. At first she thought nothing of it—clearly Sanji-kun was just suffering from the nightmare-illness—but moments later she realized with surprise that she could hear music. _Violin_ music.

_"Suuuuuupeeeeeeeeer!"_ came an all-too-familiar warcry, and seconds later Nami was stunned to see Franky, Chopper, and Brook come bursting out of the shadows from down the road in the direction of their ship, all looking positively furious. Franky had an enormous wooden board clenched in his meaty fists, while Chopper charged at the creatures in Walk Point, leveling his horns—tangled with cloth, or something like that, Nami thought in surprise—at the nearest Nightmares. Brook rode on his back, running his bow frantically over the strings of his violin as he played ditty after ditty furiously, _yohoho_-ing like mad.

It was a suicide run. Nami wanted to scream a warning to them, tell them to run as far as they could, to take the _Sunny_ and get the hell out of their with their dreams still intact while they had the chance. But that heavy lead feeling in her chest had apparently seized hold of her voice as well, and she found she could barely whimper, let alone scream.

Which was why all she could do was stare in surprise as the creatures nearest to the small attack force froze in place, offering only muted whines as they trembled and struggled to move and found themselves completely unable to.

"Yohohoho! Your taste in music needs a little work, I think!" Brook shouted delightedly, as he shifted to a new fast-paced song, his bony fingers flying over the strings with such speed all Nami could see was a white blur. He managed to cling to Chopper with his knees, not missing a note as the reindeer charged into the fray, antlers level, and met the nearest stunned Harvester head on. The creature screamed in surprise and began to smoke all over, and with a furious toss of his head Chopper threw the thing into the air and watched with grim satisfaction as it burst into flames and vanished completely.

"No...no way," Nami gasped, stunned. "He...how did he..."

"I...I have no idea, Nami-san," Sanji-kun offered, sounding just as surprised as she did.

Franky plowed into the mass of unmoving, whining Harvesters next, and swung his plank fully around with another 'super' warcry. It smashed into four of the creatures, and as with Chopper, each of the four shrieked, smoked, and then burst into flames, dissipating completely. Without hesitating, the trio pushed in further, playing, swinging, and charging wildly, and everywhere they approached the creatures froze, and then burned.

The ranks of Harvesters around Nami and Sanji-kun scattered, the creatures shrieking wildly as they backpedaled and scurried back towards Remia before whatever was stunning them could take hold. The Shepherds barked angrily and tried to drive them back, but it was clear from their body language that they, too, were affected by the music, becoming sluggish and worried. The snake-arm alone seemed unfazed, and threw itself angrily at Franky, all its arms outstretched to grasp. Franky met it head on, smashing his plank into the creature's scaly head. It took several smacks to kill this one—evidently the snake-arm was stronger, and would not go up in flames from one hit alone—but in the end it was beaten into submission, and with a last, rumbling hiss, vanished into smoke.

"Girlie!" Franky called to her, almost cheerful. "You alright? How's curly-cook?"

"Not great," Nami shouted back, "But at least we're alive! How are you _doing_ that?"

"They don't like the _Thousand Sunny_," Chopper yelled to her as he bodily rammed another creature, this one a Shepherd, with his entwined horns. Nami could see now that it was sailcloth, wrapped carefully around every surface of each horn. The Shepherd stumbled back—it, too, could withstand at least one blow—but another attack from Franky's plank finished it completely.

"Like Zoro's sword," she said, bewildered. What was the connection between the two?

It hit her suddenly, like a whirlwind, but before she had time to shout her realization to the others a cold, wailing keen reverberated through the air all around them. "No!" Nami shrieked in surprise, as she spun around, and glared furiously down the path towards Remia. The shadow-creature, the one with the basket, had raised its reptilian head and was whistling into the air, calling for a retreat to protect its precious cargo. If that thing got away, then Luffy's, Zoro's, Robin's, and Sanji-kun's dreams would go with it.

"What the hell is _that?_" Franky yelped in surprise, pointing at the shadow-creature with his plank.

"It's important," she snapped back, as the trio of pirates got closer. "No time to explain—just cover me with those weapons of yours, okay? We have to stop that thing!"

"You got it, sis!" he yelled back over the keening, as he finally reached the two of them. He was staring in confusion at the illusions, and Nami hastily dispelled them with a few slashes of the Clima-Tact, regarding the cyborg curiously. Besides the addition of the plank as a weapon, he also had a thick bundle of sailcloth wrapped over his shoulders and around his back, which looked weighted down pretty well. She wasn't sure what that was about, but as long as he could maneuver fine with it on, she didn't really care.

Regarding his own burdens reminded her of her own, and she hastily un-shouldered her pack, dropping it to the dusty packed road—less weight would make a chase a little easier. To her surprise, the _thud_ of the pack was accompanied by several familiar clatters as something else hit the ground, and she looked over her shoulder in surprise to see Zoro's three swords sprawled on the dirt.

_That's right,_ she thought in surprise. _I'd been carrying them when they hurt him—_

They hurt him, but that white one had hurt the creatures too. With barely a second's hesitation, she re-holstered her Clima-Tact and snatched up the white sword, sheath and all. Zoro couldn't complain, not if she used it to get his own damn dream back so he could remember why the weapon was even important to him to _begin_ with. "Let's go!" she ordered, and Franky fell immediately at her heels, plank at the ready.

They charged forward at a record pace, and even though Nami was exhausted and her feet hurt from all this running around and she wanted nothing more than to just drop to the dirt and sleep for a bit after that long, exhausting night of no rest, she pushed herself harder for still more speed. Several of the creatures turned around and frantically tried to put a halt to their progress as they came closer and closer to the shadow-Nightmare, but Franky made short work of them with his plank, and they shoved through the fray of frightening, mismatched creatures in a spray of flames and smoke.

It was difficult to see through the quickly forming clouds of the creatures' smoky blood, and Nami yelled in surprise as the shadow-creature suddenly loomed out of the darkness ahead of her. But she still didn't hesitate, and with the skills of a well-trained thief kept her eyes on the prize: the glowing basket, and the four valuable gems sitting within.

The creature gave a long, low whistling screech and lashed out at her with its free whiplike arm. Nami screamed in pain as the creature dug a six-inch gash into her right bicep, tearing straight through her coat to the skin, but she didn't let it slow her down an inch. She didn't know if it was because she was holding Zoro's sword, or if it was because her own pent up exhaustion, fear, and adrenaline rush was causing her to start acting more than a little crazy, but she threw herself at the creature's other arm and the delicate basket it held. She had no idea how to use the weapon in her hands, and doubted it would help anyway, so she wound up like a batter at plate and swept out with the white sword, sheathe and all.

Even with the blade still safely sheathed, the white sword sliced through the creature's whiplike arm like it was made of tissue paper. The shadow-monster gave a high pitched scream and thrashed wildly; the stub of its arm was already leaking liquid-like, smoky blood, and its severed limb was already beginning to dissolve into flames. The basket was sent flying, and Nami reached for it with a dexterous hand—and grunted in surprise as the second whip-arm slammed into her back, smashing her to the ground and knocking the sword from her hand. The basket flew through the air, flipping end over end, and its precious cargo was flung out chaotically onto the packed dirt road.

Nami groaned and recovered her wits quickly, raising her head to stare at the four gems before her. There was no mistake—they were definitely Dreamshards, and the tiny part of her mind that had really, really hoped it wasn't the case sighed and threw up its hands in frustration. But there was something about these Dreamshards that was distinctly different. These were much larger, and much brighter, than the ones she'd seen in the shop on Adamantina. Unlike the ones she'd handled bare days ago (had it really only been a few days?), which merely caught light and reflected it in a myriad of colors, these ones seemed to possess their own inner light, shifted independently through their own ranges of color even when laying in the deepest shadows of the road.

_They're living dreams,_ she realized, with a mixed feeling of relief for her friends and horror for the shards she'd seen back on the other island. _The people they belong to are still alive and there's still hope. The other ones were dead dreams...there was no chance they'd ever be realized or remembered..._

But it gave her hope at the same time—if these ones were still 'living' Dreamshards, then there was still a chance they could restore those dreams to their rightful owners. The closest shard was only a few feet from her, so she threw herself forward in a lunge before the shadow-creature behind her could approach, and slapped her hand over the little gem, dragging it close to her hunched body for protection.

Almost immediately her mind was assailed by a number of senses, images, thoughts, scents, emotions, all of it smashing into her consciousness with every sense of being real at that very moment. _I can smell the sea. Sea-salt, ginger, basil, cloves, pepper_ she knew every scent automatically even though she shouldn't _God I'm so hungry, get me off this rock, I'm begging you,_ _despair-loathing-hunger-abandonment-fear-rage-depression-diedyingdeath _ she didn't know what the hell was going on, this wasn't right, this wasn't_ Elephant Tuna, Red-finned Albacore, Granite Rockfin, Thundershard Eel, Blazer Sharks_ oh God, this really couldn't be _that's a lot of fish, isn't it? Yes, and there's more, all over the world, but they're from all the different seas_ oh God it was, it had to be, but it wasn't right _unless you get lucky enough to find the All Blue, but nobody thinks it actually exists, kid, y'know?_

_Well, I'll find it! I'll find All Blue!_

Oh, _God._

Nami pulled her hand up immediately, until her skin stopped brushing the surface of the little gem cradled beneath her. Almost at once the rush of thoughts and memories and feelings that were not her own stopped, and she breathed a minute sigh of relief. Sanji-kun's dream. To find the All Blue. Of course it made sense—with the dreams stolen, they had to go somewhere; why not in the shards themselves?—but it was still unsettling. She supported Sanji-kun's dream, and as the crew's navigator she would _definitely_ help him find it, but dreams were still deeply intimate and personal things. Feeling it, experiencing it, _that_ deeply...it had almost felt like peeping, like prying, and made her feel a little ill despite herself.

But she couldn't give up. The other shards were still in front of her, scattered over the ground, and she had to reclaim them too for her nakama. So she grit her teeth, scooped the little gem up in her bare palm—_a cook's paradise, every type of fish imaginable, all together in one location_—and scrambled forward on hands and knees to reach for the others.

The shadow-creature swept beside her, shrieking furiously. It snapped at her with its remaining whip-limb, and she jerked back hastily, reaching for the sword—but she'd dropped it, that was right, and it was some distance from her on the road. She yelled for Franky, but he was preoccupied keeping dozens of Harvesters off her back, and couldn't come to her aid. So she screamed at the shadow-beast furiously, and scrabbled after Zoro's sword, knowing already she would be too late. With another shriek the creature scooped the remaining three Dreamshards up into its basket and whirled to dart down the road, with a shield of Harvesters and Shepherds already forming between it and Nami.

She collapsed to her knees again in frustration, clutched the lone Dreamshard in her hand—_don't care if they don't believe it, I know it exists, I know it_—and watched through a blur of furious tears as her friends' dreams were carried away again.

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><p><strong>Notice:<strong> You may or may not have noticed, but I have a livejournal now! It's linked in my homepage slot on my profile page here. I'm using it as a writing/idea journal, so if you're interested you can see how my writing process works, or find snippits that didn't quite make the cut. If you're on LJ, go ahead and friend me—I don't bite! Just let me know who you are :)

~VelkynKarma


	11. Answers

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part eleven of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Well, this fic has officially bypassed _Fortunae Gauntlet_ again...I love you guys so much, y'know that? :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age."<br>~_The Dead_, James Joyce

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><p>Nami didn't think she was sitting on the ground all that long before Franky came up to her, but it sure<em> felt<em> like she'd been there for ages, watching the disgusting, unearthly Nightmares retreat up the road and into the trees until none of them were visible anymore. Her furious, frustrated tears were starting to spill over onto her cheeks, and she clutched Sanji-kun's dream in her hand so hard she would have been afraid of breaking it if she didn't know with absolute certainty it was strong enough to withstand almost anything. The cheerful, determined, enthusiastic feelings and thoughts and scents it sent directly into her mind contrasted sharply with her own current feelings of failure and uselessness, starting a whirlpool of clashing emotions that just kept spinning out of control.

"Hey, girlie, you okay?" Franky asked seriously, crouching down in front of her. "They're gone now. They didn't hurt you badly, did they?" He eyed her injured arm with concern, and she saw him glancing over the rest of her, searching for more blood or bruises.

"N...no, I'm fine," she answered slowly, and shook her head in frustration, wiping her eyes with her free jacket sleeve hastily. She hated it when people saw her crying; it felt admitting she had no control, even though she knew Franky of all people wouldn't care. "My back's a little sore, is all, that thing knocked me down...and my arm," she added, gesturing unnecessarily with her uninjured hand towards the gash, which was starting to sting something awful now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off and the battle was over.

Franky offered her one huge hand to help her up, and she took it gratefully, stumbling to her shaky feet. Sanji-kun's Dreamshard was starting to make her feel a little ill now, so she hastily plucked it away from her bare skin and dragged her sleeve down, wrapping the gem in a section of the jean jacket to keep it from touching her palm. As before, the scents, sounds, images, thoughts, and emotions vanished instantly from her consciousness, although she was surprised to find her palm was raw and red where the gem had sat nestled until now, much like Zoro's hand had been when he touched his own sword.

_I suppose it makes sense,_ she thought with a grimace. _It's not my dream, even if I'll help him reach it. It doesn't belong to me, and it's too personal to let anyone else touch it completely..._She stared down at the glittering jewel held carefully in her jacket sleeve with a grimace. It was larger than any of the ones on Adamantina, and far more vibrant. It would have easily been worth Zoro's bounty or more, if she brought it back to the island to sell it, but the very thought of trading it for beri made her sick to her stomach. It wasn't hers to sell. It was Sanji-kun's, and if she gave it away he would be a sickly husk of his former self until he wasted away from the absence of his own ambition. Not even One Piece itself would be worth that.

She sighed, closed her protected fist around the Dreamshard once more, and wearily staggered over to where she'd dropped Zoro's sword when the Nightmare had knocked her to the ground. She had to pick it up with her injured arm, and grimaced a little when moving pulled at the wound. But the sword had managed to save _somebody's_ dream at least, if not its master's, and she supposed it didn't deserve to be left laying around on the dirt road like a useless piece of cast-off trash. Franky followed her, carrying his plank-weapon in one hand and scooping up her dropped pack and the other two swords with his other one, and the two made their way over to the rest of the group.

While Nami and Franky had made an offensive assault against the shadow-Nightmare, Chopper and Brook had moved in to protect the staggering, weakened Sanji-kun from the Nightmares still swarming about him. At the cook's instruction, they'd then turned back to the tree where Usopp was trying to protect their two other weakened nakama to provide support, driving the swarming, frustrated Nightmares away from the trunk with their _Thousand Sunny_-granted weaponry until the shadow-Nightmare had called the retreat. Now they were gathered about the trunk of the tree, Sanji-kun leaning against it tiredly while Brook and Chopper (now in Heavy Point) looked up into its lower branches, talking with somebody in its depths.

"—can lower Robin down," Nami could hear Usopp saying, as they got closer, "She hit her head when the Harvesters started shaking the trees to try and make us fall out, but I think she's still light enough for me to lower. I dunno if I can get Zoro out though, he's sort of...stuck."

"I am not," came a slurred, agitated voice from further up the tree. Nami almost would have laughed at the petulance in Zoro's tone, if the situation weren't so serious. " 'n I don't need any help, either."

"Sword-bro doesn't sound so good," Franky commented, frowning. "And how come he doesn't have these?" he added, holding up the two swords in one big hand, and pointedly eyeing the white one Nami was still carrying.

"It's a long story," Nami said tiredly. "But don't call him that."

"Eh? Don't call him Sword-bro? But he _is_ our swordsman..."

"Not right now, he isn't," Nami said grimly. "I'll explain as soon as possible, but Zoro...got hit. By those things. And he doesn't remember that he's a swordsman anymore. Mentioning it..._upsets_ him," she finished, which was the understatement of the year, but it was too chilling to try and explain that wild, unnatural chanting and panic that came on whenever they got close to mentioning someone's dream to a nakama who'd had it stolen.

"Don't mention anything about Robin being an archaeologist, either," she cautioned urgently, realizing that they had even more troubles to deal with now. With a glance down at her hand, still carefully cupping Sanji-kun's Dreamshard in a cloth-covered palm, she added, "or that Sanji-kun is looking for All Blue."

Franky gave her a dubious look, but finally nodded slowly, sensing that something important was going on. They reached the gathering of pirates, and Sanji-kun began fawning over Nami immediately, if weakly, insisting that he was going to make the Nightmares pay for putting a bloody gash in her beautiful skin. Nami shook her head in exasperation—his thoughts on women were not, apparently, a part of his dream—and watched with a little concern as Usopp managed to carefully lower a limp Robin down from the tree into Heavy Point Chopper's waiting arms.

"She's very pale," the doctor observed with a frown, as he laid her down gently at the base of the tree. "A lot of her symptoms resemble Luffy's..."

"The same thing happened to her," Usopp supplied grimly, from the lower branches of the tree. "The Nightmares that ate Luffy's dream ate hers, too." He opened his mouth to add something further, but there was a creaking noise from further up in the tree. Usopp looked up from his branch-seat curiously, and his eyes widened. "Wait, no, Zoro, don't do that, you're going to f—_agh!_"

Several sharp cracks and the heavy rustling of blood-red leaves filled the air, and seconds later Usopp was knocked from his comfortable perch as Zoro crashed ungracefully through the upper branches onto him. Brook and Chopper barely managed to scatter out of the way, dragging Robin with them, before Zoro and Usopp smashed into the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

"Ow," Zoro muttered dazedly, and managed after a few weak attempts to roll off of Usopp, who immediately gasped for breath after having the wind knocked clean out of him. "Damn tree..."

"I _told_ you I would've helped," Usopp managed to rasp, coughing and rubbing his nose painfully as he weakly attempted to sit up.

"I wasn't stuck," Zoro said, his voice still defensive. But he sounded exhausted too, and the dark lines under his eyes seemed worse from what Nami could tell. He did not make any attempts to sit up or stand, either, and the navigator was fairly sure it was because he lacked the strength to.

"Idiot marimo," Sanji-kun slurred. "You're completely useless, you know that?"

"Shut up, love-cook," Zoro hissed back, although the verbal sparring lacked its usual malevolence, and the both of them seemed too tired to even care. Sanji-kun winced and looked agitated at Zoro's insulting nickname, however, and Nami realized with a mental groan that it addressed aspects of Sanji-kun's dream. Cooking was intrinsically tied into his need to find the All Blue, after all, and therefore with his Dreamshard missing he'd be just as upset and confused being referred to as a cook as Zoro got when they referred to him as a swordsman. They'd have to do something about that, if they could.

Chopper looked worried. "Oh no," he said, voice anxious, as he reverted to Brain Point. "Not Zoro and Sanji too! We were too late..."

"Not exactly," Nami said. Even if they _had_ been too late to stop those Dreamshard-thefts from happening to begin with, Nami was too grateful for their arrival at all to be bitter about that. "If you guys hadn't shown up when you did, we'd be dead," she said truthfully. "We were done for. And...and with your counter-attack, I managed to steal _this_ back," she said, and triumphantly held out the glittering Dreamshard, still securely encased in her jacket.

"A Dreamshard!" the reindeer said delightedly, and Franky's and Brook's expressions seemed to light up at the sight of it as well.

"That's definitely gotta be over a hundred million's worth," the cyborg added, almost cheerfully. "At least we got some sort of profit out of this visit, right, sis? All we gotta do now is find the cure for our nakama and we're set."

Nami and Usopp stared at him, stunned, and even Sanji-kun, still weaving against the tree trunk dazedly, managed to give the cyborg a disbelieving look. "That's right," Usopp said slowly, after a moment. "You guys don't know yet, we only just figured it out with all the writing we found out here..."

"Know what?" the three new arrivals asked in confusion, and they looked a little worried now, as well.

"It's a long story," Nami said again. "Look, why don't we fortify a little here, in case the Nightmares come back, and make them a little more comfortable—" she gestured here to Zoro, Robin, and Sanji-kun; Zoro was crumpled awkwardly on his side still from the fall, Robin was still sprawled where she'd been dragged away to miss being fallen _on_, and Sanji-kun looked like he might crash soon if he didn't sit and rest for a bit, "—and we can trade information."

"Good idea," Chopper said seriously. "I want to take a look at that injury too, Nami, and for anybody else who got hurt since I saw you guys last."

"Might want to check on Luffy too," Franky added, gesturing to the sailcloth twisted over his shoulders and around his back. "It's been a while since the last check, since we bolted when we heard the commotion ahead, and I haven't heard him muttering in a while."

"Wait, Luffy's _here?_" Nami nearly shrieked. "You _brought_ him? Are you _crazy?_"

"We couldn't leave him, Nami-san," Brook explained defensively, as the cyborg swung the cloth bundle down from his shoulders. "We discovered how to beat these Nightmare-creatures and thought you could make use of our assistance and discoveries, but we did not want to leave our captain unattended and unprotected back on the ship."

"I guess that makes sense," Nami admitted reluctantly, although she found herself unusually worried for her captain's safety all the same. Luffy was normally just as durable as the rubber he was made out of, and was usually capable of bouncing back from nearly anything with good cheer and steadfast determination. But with his dream stolen, he seemed unusually vulnerable, and she didn't like the thought of putting him in unnecessary danger.

Franky seemed to understand her reluctance, and said reassuringly, "It's cool, girlie. See, he's protected by the _Sunny_ too, this is sailcloth from the ship itself. If any of those un-super things tried to hurt him they'd have their claws burned right off." He'd set the bundle on the ground now, and carefully folded the sailcloth sling back, revealing their captain, bundled up securely in an additional blanket. He did not look good. Like Zoro, the lines under his eyes had darkened further, and his skin was drawn and could have belonged to a corpse, not a living human being. Luffy's eyes were open now, a notable change since Nami had last seen him, but they stared blankly and did not appear to actually recognize or interact with anything around him. He was still catatonic, then, although Nami thought glumly that she really hadn't expected anything else, especially not after learning what he was really afflicted with.

"It's the best we can hope for, I guess," she admitted with a sigh. "Let's just get everybody taken care of."

Twenty minutes later the Straw Hats were assembled around the tree more comfortably, in marginally better shape than they'd been in before. Robin, Zoro, and Luffy were all leaning against the tree trunk, as comfortably as their nakama could make them. Robin had woken briefly after her small bump on the head, but other than looking around at them almost anxiously and whispering something inaudibly under her breath she had fallen back asleep. Zoro complained a little about Chopper treating his bite injury on his arm (as Nami had suspected, it had needed stitches), but he, too, dropped off into a weary slumber as soon as they stopped jostling him and left him alone against the tree. Luffy was perhaps the most worrying. He never stirred as they moved him about, but he did start muttering loudly, the same alarming sorts of things that Zoro had murmured the entire night before. "He does that a lot," Franky said, sounding both worried and apologetic. "Just ignore it, he'll stop in a bit."

Nami had tried to convince Sanji-kun to rest with the others, but despite thanking her profusely for her thoughtfulness he would have none of it. He sat with the rest of them on the old stumps and fallen logs Franky had dragged out of the forest for them, and though he swayed a little in his seat and still looked dazed and more than a little out of it, he was obviously putting a great deal of effort into staying awake and focusing on the rest of the pirates.

Chopper, Brook, and Franky were clearly more rested and prepared than the rest of them—it seemed the three of them had been able to get a decent night's rest, untroubled by nightmares of either variety. They obligingly kept an eye out for further attacks as they doled out some food from their own supplies or (in Chopper's case) treated the rest of the crew's injuries. Nami still felt exhausted even after her arm had been looked at and had a more solid meal, but at least she felt safer now, assured that they'd be able to defend themselves against further attacks if—or more like _when_—they came.

When they were all ready, they started talking, trading everything that they'd discovered in the past two days. Nami and Usopp were the only fully coherent members of their team left, and shared their discoveries on the origins of Dreamshards and the real cause of the nightmare-illness, with an occasional valiant attempt by Sanji-kun to interject with something useful. Franky, Chopper, and Brook shared in turn their battle with the Nightmares on the _Sunny_, and the subsequent discovery of the creatures' weaknesses against any part of the ship.

"At first we thought it was just the Adam Wood," Franky finished, as he dug into the enormous sack that Chopper had been carrying earlier, "but it turns out it's _any_ part of the _Sunny_ that will kill the creatures. They didn't like the rigging or sails either. So I brought some stuff for you guys too, and after seeing that fight, it looks like you need it!" He handed Usopp an enormous bag of nails to use as artillery, Nami three short lengths of cord to wrap around each of the three poles on the Clima-Tact, and Sanji-kun two squares of sailcloth that could be tied around his shoes without impeding his movement. The not-cook's fingers were burned when he attempted to accept the gift, and he swore loudly; in the end Usopp had to tie the cloth on for him, while Sanji-kun complained irritably. It looked a bit silly in the end, but if it meant they'd be able to kill the things in the future themselves, it'd be worth it.

"I brought stuff for them too," Franky added with a frown, glancing over at the slumbering Robin and Zoro, "but it doesn't look like they'd be able to use it after all..."

"Zoro wouldn't have needed it anyway, he had his sword," Usopp pointed out. "That worked too...well, just the one, but still..."

"Yeah, about that," Nami said suddenly. The others looked at her, and with a frown she said slowly, "I think I know why these things specifically damage the Nightmares."

"Really, girlie?" Franky said, and the others looked at her with mixed expressions of excitement and intrigue.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Look, think about it. These things steal our _dreams_. Our ambitions. But they're always careful not to touch the Dreamshards, or as little as they can anyway. Only those Harvesters steal them, and even then they only carry them with their mandibles very carefully, like they don't want to touch them at all. I think what Sanji-kun said this morning was right...the creatures feed on something else, but they have to 'clean' their food first, to remove the poisonous dreams before they can eat."

Franky blinked in surprise, but then said suddenly, "Oh...I get what you're saying, girlie. Dreams hurt them, but it doesn't just have to be the dream itself. Any_ object_ connected to the dream is painful too. And my dream was to build the _Sunny_ and take her around the world, so that hurts them, too. Right?"

"Exactly," Nami said, nodding in satisfaction. "And Zoro's sword, too. All of us have noticed by now, that white one is the one he treats with the most care and respect, and it obviously means a lot to him. He's had it since before I even met him and Luffy." She glanced at the sleeping not-swordsman, lowered her voice just in case, and added, "I'd bet anything that he swore on the white sword about his greatest swordsman dream, and that's why _that_ one hurts these Nightmares while the other two don't."

"Fair enough," Usopp agreed. "It makes sense. Although, Luffy's hat should do the same then, too, right?"

"Probably, but it's probably best if we don't test _that_ particular theory," Nami said, horrified at the notion of risking Luffy's precious straw hat in a battle. She could only imagine the expression on his face if—no, _when_—they restored his dream, only to find his hat had been ripped to shreds in a fight against Nightmares. She _definitely_ didn't want to see that expression in real life. Imagining it was bad enough. The others nodded in agreement, horror on their own faces as well at the very thought.

"I think this is the reason these...these dream-items," Nami invented, not sure what else to call them, "end up burning anybody who's had their dream stolen. It happened to Zoro earlier when he tried to hold the white katana, and Sanji-kun got burned just now when he tried to hold a piece from the _Sunny._ Without a dream of their own, strong ambitions must hurt them, just like they hurt the Nightmares."

"Luffy-san _was_ particularly distressed when we tried to settle him into the sling the first time," Brook observed. "That was why we ended up wrapping him in the blanket before putting him in the sailcloth."

"Did anybody bring his hat?" Usopp asked. "We could always test it." Although he looked a little worried at the idea.

Chopper hesitated, but then produced the straw hat from underneath his own, where the fuzzy pink brim and his own crown of antlers had protected the straw beneath. He seemed unsure of how to proceed though, and clutched the straw hat reluctantly in his little hooves, staring at Luffy anxiously.

Nami stood and took the hat gently from him, running her fingers over the rough surface of the treasured item that had given Luffy his dream and the pirates their name. She hesitated for a moment herself, but then, grimly determined, stepped over to the blandly staring, unresponsive Luffy, crouched beside him, and very, very carefully, brushed his cheek with the very edge of the hat's brim.

Almost immediately she could smell the very faint, almost nonexistent traces of burnt rubber, and wrinkled her nose a little at the scent. Luffy reacted for the first time to an outside source since Franky and the others had arrived: he whimpered softly under his breath, a plaintive, childlike noise that had Nami's heart wrenching, and weakly tried to jerk his head away. The ranting started almost immediately, and he whined his familiar yet still disturbing mantra with an exhausted voice, over and over. _"Stolen...stolen...stolen..."_

She jerked the hat away immediately and bit her lip until she could trust her voice to remain steady. "That tears it," she said slowly, when she'd finally recovered. "It's definitely dream items, and they're definitely vulnerable to them." She stepped away from her captain, wishing she could apologize or calm him down after starting his ranting all over again, but knowing instinctively there was nothing she _could_ do to help.

Usopp silently held out his hand for the straw hat, and Nami gratefully handed it over. After seeing what it did to her captain, and partly causing it, she really wanted nothing to do with the thing right now. Usopp _was_ sort of its secondary handler, apart from herself, whenever Luffy needed to get serious about a fight, so she didn't feel so bad handing it over to him. The sniper once again placed it under his own wraparound headgear, snug and safe, while she reclaimed her seat on the log.

The others still looked solemn after the new discovery, so Nami pushed the conversation on still further. "Brook's music stumps me, though," she said, regarding the skeleton and his violin curiously. "Your dream is to return to Laboon and keep your promise, isn't it? That doesn't have anything to do with music, but it still affects them."

"It doesn't kill them, though," Franky pointed out. "Just kinda freezes'em in place. And if they use that terror-call thing, the music kinda blocks it from working."

"That's right," Chopper agreed. "That creepy scream makes you feel all cold inside, but when Brook played his music, it felt _warm._"

"But that makes sense, does it not?" The skeleton said. "Music is more than just sound. It's emotion and feeling! Music is incredibly powerful and can affect how a person acts and thinks and what their state of mind is. From what I saw, these creatures do exactly the same thing, just with sad and fearful emotions...not, of course, that I could see anything at all, seeing as I have no eyes, _yohohoho!_"

"Well, Nami _did_ just say the Nightmares probably feed on something else, and not the Dreamshards themselves," Usopp said thoughtfully. "And one of Robin's translations, the one about the Harvesters, implied that the Queen of the Night fed on fear and despair. Maybe they like to, I don't know, spice it up more? Make us even more scared so there's more to eat or it tastes better or something?"

"But they can't if Brook counteracts those feelings of fear and sadness with something cheerful," Nami concluded slowly. "I guess that makes sense. And if they like despair and fear so much, then happy, joyful emotions must have the same effect on_ them_ that the terror-blast does on _us_...that's why they freeze up!" Who knew their musician could have such a useful application? Such an advantage would definitely be helpful in the future. The others looked a little more heartened as well, and Brook _yohoho-ed_ excitedly again, playing a short, excitable jig on the violin.

Nami found herself smiling as well, until she glanced back at their three unconscious, dreamless nakama, and the still exhausted-looking Sanji-kun; that sobered her instantly. "About the Dreamshards, and the dream items...I think it works both ways," she said slowly. They looked at her curiously, confused, and with a deep breath she held out her still red and raw palm. "That Dreamshard I got back did this to me," she explained. "I didn't really notice until I moved it, because it doesn't feel warm or anything, but it's like the dreams protect themselves when they're not in the person they belong to."

"That could be useful, right?" Chopper asked. "If Dreamshards have a self-defense mechanism or something, then maybe it'll be hard for these Nightmares to eat, or break, or whatever they do with them..."

"Maybe," she said quietly. "I just don't know." She didn't want to add that she doubted it, in the long run. These creatures had clearly been stealing Dreamshards for hundreds of years, and had to be experienced with them by now, but she didn't want to stamp on the little doctor's hopes.

Shaking her head, she added, "Whatever it is...after all that, I managed to get back _one_ dream, at least." And, holding out her palm, with the Dreamshard still carefully clutched in her jacket sleeve, she turned towards Sanji-kun and said, "This one is yours."

Sanji-kun blinked in surprise, and said rather intelligently, "Eh?"

"How can you be sure?" Usopp asked, puzzled. "It doesn't have any distinguishing marks or anything, like a swirly eye—um, it doesn't have any marks," he stuttered lamely, as Sanji-kun glared at him.

"I know," she said grimly. "I...well, I heard it. I'm sorry, Sanji-kun," she added apologetically, knowing the apology meant nothing in the face of such an intense trespassing into somebody's private thoughts and hopes and memories, intentional or not. But it was all she could offer.

"Sorry?" The not-cook looked appalled. "Nami-san, I should be apologizing to you, I didn't mean to burn your lovely hand—"

"_Don't_ apologize for your dream," she said sharply, and Sanji-kun, looking surprised and tired, jerked back on reflex. In a softer tone, she added, "I don't know exactly how to fix it being stolen, but it's _yours_, so...you'd better have it, I think..."

Sanji-kun still looked confused, and a little shaky. The void in his head, the one sitting in her hand at that very moment, was probably making it difficult for him to comprehend these abstract comments. More insistently, knowing perfectly well that she was about to really agitate him, she said, "Didn't you join Luffy's crew to see the All Blue, Sanji-kun?"

Almost instantly he froze. Then, much like Zoro had that very morning, he curled forward and went rigid, clutching at his head with his hands, and his breath began to rasp painfully. "What are...I...no, you..." he stammered, and he looked like he was about to be ill, and couldn't even comprehend why.

Usopp bit his lip at the familiar and frightening gestures, but seemed to get what Nami was trying to do, and offered shakily, "Yeah, that's right! You told me about it before, it's supposed to be a cook's paradise, right?"

"That's why you're here with us, right?" Nami pressed still further, harshly, but understanding the necessity of it all the same.

"No...no, I...not...can't rem-member," Sanji-kun rasped, and he was starting to tremble now, too, his one visible eye wide and staring. "Can't...n-nothing there...it...was..._stolen_..."

"Then take it back," Nami said sharply, and pulling one of his hands free from his head, she slapped the glittering Dreamshard in his palm.

Sanji-kun's stammering and gasping pants cut off almost instantly, and his fingers fisted around the gem with alarming speed, clenching possessively around it with such strength Nami was almost afraid he'd break his fingers. She stepped back quickly, and everyone else leaned forward intently, anxious to see if restoring the gem would be enough to save their nakama from a very short lifetime of emptiness and despair.

Nothing happened for a very long time, and Nami frowned, biting her lip. She was sure returning the shard to Sanji-kun would fix him somehow. If she could hear his thoughts and feel his dreams while holding it, it made sense that he would too, and she had hoped somehow that having such a sharp reminder of those intensely private things would fill the void in his head that the Nightmares had created. But Sanji-kun remained rigid, curled forward in what looked to be an incredibly uncomfortable pose, with his hand still raised and fisted around the shard where she'd forced it into his hand. He was silent still, no longer having difficulties breathing or stammering about something having been stolen, but he wasn't doing anything _else_ either.

"Sanji?" Usopp asked, voice tentative. "Sanji, you okay?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from the cook, and he started slightly, as if suddenly shaken awake. Very slowly, he uncurled, sitting up straighter on the stump Franky had dragged out of the trees for him, bringing his fist and the invaluable Dreamshard within it possessively close to his chest. His one visible eye was still wide, and didn't seem to see any of them; it was like he was focusing on something that wasn't there. Having felt the effects of the shard herself, Nami was not surprised. If anything, she was sure a Dreamshard's effects would become _stronger_ when held by the person they belonged to.

But still, he did look a little dazed, and combined with his unusually pale complexion it made him look quite sick. Nami was just about to open her mouth to ask if he was okay, when Sanji-kun blinked and glanced down at his fist. His fingers slowly uncurled, revealing traces of glittering, constantly changing light between his fingertips. Everyone watched in surprise as he stared down at the gem in his palm with a look of fierce determination, before lifting it and slamming it to his chest, directly over his heart.

Nami yelped in surprise at the sudden movement. She heard Chopper's and Brook's exclamations alongside hers, and Usopp asked with a bewildered tone, "Woah! What're you doing?" Nami could still see traces of glittering on the dark fabric of Sanji-kun's coat, but already it was fading rapidly, and within seconds it was completely gone. Sanji-kun gave a tired sigh, but nodded in satisfaction, and when he withdrew his hand the Dreamshard was gone.

The Straw Hats—what was left of them, anyway—stared at their cook in surprise. Sanji-kun blinked again, and, apparently realizing he was now being watched, glanced up to meet their eyes. "Something wrong?"

"What did you _do?_" Usopp asked, still sounding deeply confused. "Your Dreamshard is gone!"

"I...uh..." Sanji-kun looked almost as confused as Usopp sounded, and scowled a little at that—Nami knew he didn't like appearing clueless. "I'm not sure," the cook finally admitted with a tired shrug. "It just...it seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Then Sanji has his dream back?" Chopper asked, looking up at the cook hopefully before glancing around at the others.

Nami shrugged. "Only one way to find out," she said, and turning to Sanji-kun, asked him firmly, "Well? What's your dream? Why did you join the Straw Hat Pirates?"

"To find the All Blue," Sanji-kun answered promptly, and then paused in surprise. "Ah...I could reach it this time, it wasn't _empty_ like before..." He shivered softly, the movement so imperceptible Nami almost didn't notice it, and she wisely kept her observation to herself. She'd had enough of delving into Sanji-kun's personal thoughts and feelings for one day as it was.

The others didn't appear to notice, however, and Usopp and Chopper in particular looked delighted. "Then he _did_ get it back!" Usopp said, his tone a mix of excitement and relief, and Franky was blocking his face with one huge arm, his shouted insistences that he wasn't crying only partially drowned out by Brook's spontaneous enthusiastic ditty on the violin.

Nami was relieved to hear it as well, but Sanji-kun still looked tired, so she asked with a slight frown, "Are you okay? You still don't look very well."

His face broke into a grin almost instantly. "Nami-san, are you worried about me? That's so kind of you! With an angel like you looking out for me I'm sure I'll feel wonderful in no time—"

"Sanji-kun," she interrupted, not shouting, but with a firm, serious voice. He cut off almost instantly with a clack of teeth, and she repeated more insistently, "How do you feel?"

The cook paused, and seemed to be seriously considering the question and how to answer it while the rest of the crew watched him with anticipation. Then Sanji-kun raised his head and said slowly, truthfully, "Tired. Really tired. Not from getting my dream back—that was a little intense, but not _exhausting_, exactly. It's hard to explain. And I already feel like I'm getting my strength back. If I can just sit for a bit I'm sure I'll be fine. But..._tired_...from trying to maintain when All Blue was stolen from me."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he shivered again, much more visibly than before. "There wasn't anything there. There wasn't a goal to work towards. There wasn't anything to live for. It was just like _existing_...no, like _subsisting_. Just trying to push through that was exhausting, and I only had to deal with it for a few minutes." He looked at Nami again, and the heartfelt _thank you_, so solemn and so genuine, was strong enough to almost make her want to take a step back in surprise.

Then the cook's gaze switched to their three still dreamless crew mates, and the sympathetic pity on his face was almost painful to look at. Nami couldn't blame him. He knew how they felt now, and he had only existed in the same state as them for less than an hour. Luffy was going on a full two days now, and Zoro wasn't far behind him. And if their current predicament was any indication, Robin wasn't going be getting her dream back anytime soon, either. They all had to be suffering in ways nobody else but Sanji-kun could comprehend.

"But you can remember everything from when your Dreamshard was missing?" Chopper inquired, with clinical curiosity. "The loss of the Dreamshard seemed to effect memory, from what you guys were telling us...does replacing it do the same, replacing the memories that were there?"

"No, it doesn't," Sanji-kun answered. "I can still remember everything from the moment they pulled it out of me. It's a bit fuzzy, like when you first wake up, but it's all there. I remember trying to protect Nami-san, and then when you guys arrived, and our whole conversation up until now."

"About protecting me," Nami said suddenly, with a snap of her fingers. "Something else happened then that was unusual."

The others looked at her in confusion—none of them had been nearby when Sanji-kun and herself had been swarmed. Sanji-kun himself looked deeply apologetic, and said with obvious guilt in his voice, "I'm so sorry, Nami-san, I was completely useless in that fight, you could have died or had your dream stolen because I wasn't—"

"No," she said sharply, and held her hand up to forestall him from further apologies. "That's just it," she continued, when he'd fallen silent, "you _weren't_ useless, Sanji-kun. In fact, you were up minutes after the Nightmares stole your Dreamshard, and you weren't just on your feet—you were actually _fighting._ You were definitely weaker, but you were still able to stun a few of those Harvesters, and you didn't need babysitting. That's _completely_ different from these three," she said, gesturing to Luffy, Zoro and Robin, still passed out cold underneath the tree. "Luffy passed out almost instantly and didn't get up again at all. Zoro did stand up, but he didn't know how to fight, and Usopp had to knock him out of the way. And Robin recovered too, but she was so weak she couldn't even stand. Why is it that you could fight, but they couldn't?"

"Maybe it's about the dream itself?" Usopp offered. "Luffy's dream is to become the Pirate King, and obviously there'll be a lot of fighting in that. And Zoro wants to be the best swordsman in the world, that's fighting too. But finding the All Blue isn't really a fighting dream..."

But Sanji-kun shook his head. "No, that's not it," he said slowly. "Robin-chan's dream doesn't fit into that. She wants to find the Poneglyphs and True History, there's no fighting tied into that goal either."

"Usopp's got a point, though," Franky said, arms crossed as he stared upwards thoughtfully. "Maybe not about the fighting part of the dream, but something about curly-cook's dream has to be different than the others. Dreams are the only thing this whole un-_super_ mess has in common."

"Perhaps we should go through each of the dreams again?" Brook suggested. "Maybe we've been overlooking something that will help us solve this little dilemma."

Nami wasn't sure how this would help—everyone was familiar with everyone else's dreams on _this_ crew—but she was at a loss for any other ideas, so she sighed and nodded. "Might as well. I guess we'll start from the beginning—our captain."

As one, the crew glanced over at the sleeping, pale, vulnerable-looking form of their leader; Luffy had not stirred or spoken again since he'd finally calmed from being burned by his own dream item. "Well, that's easy," Usopp said grimly. "Luffy's going to be the Pirate King. He only mentions _that_ one at least once a day...funny how it doesn't actually sound crazy anymore, though."

The others nodded in agreement, and Nami privately thought back to the first moment she'd heard Luffy announce his dream. It felt like ages ago, back before she had even really officially joined the crew, when she was still stealing to buy her village back from Arlong. She'd thought he was crazy, when he announced with absolute confidence that he was going to be the Pirate King—no doubts, no maybes, no halfhearted desires, he _was_ going to achieve that goal. Like he had possessed that dream for so long that it was the only conclusion available. And while she still considered her captain more than a little insane sometimes, she had no doubts herself by this point that Luffy would indeed become the Pirate King—if they could get his dream back, anyway.

"Zoro's next," Chopper continued. "That one's pretty easy too—he wants to be the world's greatest swordsman."

"Don't forget he has to beat Mihawk to do it," Sanji-kun added helpfully, but there was a slight frown on his face as he mentioned it. Nami was a bit fuzzy on the details, but she recalled vaguely that Zoro had encountered Mihawk once already, after she'd left the Baratie to return to Arlong so long ago now. In fact, Mihawk was responsible for the enormous scar cutting across their swordsman's chest from shoulder to hip. Luffy and Sanji-kun had witnessed that particular fight, which explained the cook's frown; like Luffy's dream, he'd probably seen enough to realize Zoro's dream also seemed impossible. But Zoro wouldn't back down on that dream either, Nami was sure. He'd certainly had it before Nami had met him. She remembered watching his fight with Cabaji the Acrobat, not too long after they'd met, and how he'd clearly mentioned preparing for 'him,' presumably Mihawk. Like Luffy, Zoro's dream stretched so far back that it was a part of his life before he'd even joined the Straw Hats, was so strong he wouldn't relinquish it for anything.

"Then sis comes next, right?" Franky continued the list, nodding to Nami. "With your navigator dream, making a map of the world."

Nami opened her mouth to agree, but Usopp was frowning, and Sanji-kun looked uncomfortable—like he might have mentioned something, but was too respectful to do so. Nami frowned, and with a gesture to Usopp said slowly, "What's wrong?"

"Well, it's just..." The sniper hesitated for a moment, and then blurted out quickly, "That wasn't your first dream, I mean, you weren't really a part of the crew at first because, y'know..."

"Because I was still with Arlong," Nami said slowly. Sanji-kun winced apologetically, and Chopper, Franky and Brook looked confused.

"It's a long story," she explained, at their questioning looks. "But although I met Luffy right after Zoro, I didn't actually choose to join Luffy to go to the Grand Line until...just after Sanji-kun, really. Luffy was the one who convinced me that my dream to draw a map of the world was worth following. Before that, I never really believed in it, I just wanted to try and finish my deal with Arlong. My map was an impossibility before Luffy..."

"Sorry," Usopp mumbled. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories...I just...I figured maybe it was important..."

"No," Nami said slowly, "I think you're right." She frowned to herself. Something about that seemed very important, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Her dream was much, much younger and less nurtured compared to Luffy's or Zoro's, who'd been following them their whole lives, as far as she could tell. She'd had to borrow a good deal of Luffy's own confidence and determination to even begin recognizing that her dream wasn't childish or immature at all, but genuinely worth following. She fully believed in it _now_ of course, even without the help of her captain, but Luffy had been the one to push her into following it to begin with.

But that sounded very familiar...

"Sanji-kun," she said suddenly, an idea in mind, "Your dream, the All Blue—how long have you had it?"

"Hey!" Usopp interjected. "We skipped _me_ and my great warrior of the sea dream!"

Nami ignored him and focused intently on their cook, who looked surprised. "Um...since I was eight, I think? Some cooks on the cruise ship I'd been working on told me stories about the All Blue, and I really wanted to see it."

"But you never acted on it," Nami pressed. "Why?"

Sanji-kun frowned, and lowered his head quickly, hiding his eyes from view. Nami could practically feel him radiating guilt. "The crap-geezer," he said slowly. "I...I decided to help him with his dream, instead. The Baratie."

Nami could tell there was a lot more left unsaid there, and guessed the situation was far more complex than that, but she didn't push. Sanji-kun's life was his own, and if he didn't want to share the details, she sure as hell wasn't going to force him. She could relate to that herself. Instead, she said, "But you're here now, after almost ten years, looking for the All Blue. What changed your mind?"

Sanji-kun looked up, blinked. "Isn't it the same for all of us? Luffy did. First he just wanted me to be his cook, but then he heard about my dream too and got all the more insistent. And I don't know...it sounds like a really silly dream, I guess, to follow some stories nobody's ever proven, but it seems way more real and possible now."

Nami nodded in satisfaction. Sanji-kun's story nearly matched her own, in that regard. "I think that's it," she said slowly. "The reason Sanji-kun could get up again, when the others couldn't."

"You lost me, sis," Franky said with a puzzled frown, while the others gave her equally confused looks.

"Luffy's had his dream his whole life. Luffy's dream _is_ Luffy, basically. Without that goal to be the Pirate King, there's nothing else left," Nami explained, growing a little more excited at the discovery, even if the subject matter was grim.

"He's got us," Usopp said, sounding doubtful.

"But don't you see," Nami pressed, "We're a _part_ of that dream. Luffy was always going on about how he needs to find a crew, and become the Pirate King, back when I first met him. He's mostly got a crew now, us, and now he always talks about how protecting us and helping us achieve our dreams is a part of being a good pirate captain, too. Everything about Luffy's life _is_ his dream. That's why when it was stolen from him, he turned into..._this_." She gestured quietly towards their catatonic captain.

"Zoro and Robin, too," Nami added, gesturing to the two other sleeping crew mates. "Zoro's been focused on his swordsman dream for a long time. Definitely before _I_ met him at least, and I've been around longer than any of the rest of you. We know it's a huge part of his life, and without it he's a shadow of his former self. And Robin—we know Robin has been running from the military for twenty _years_, escaping them while looking for the True History. That's an incredibly long time to be pursuing a dream, and every moment of her life was spent working towards that, or surviving long enough to get to the next clue.

"But Sanji-kun's dream is different," Nami continued. "I don't mean this in a bad way, Sanji-kun, because I did the same thing myself, but you haven't been living your dream until very recently. Not like they have. For them, it's a huge part—maybe the only part—of their lives, and they base all their decisions around those dreams. For us...we've lived other aspects of life, were never completely reliant on our dreams. They're strong to us now, and losing them will still be a painful experience, but there are other things to keep us going."

"I...maybe that's true, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said slowly, considering. "When I lost my Dreamshard it was...it was bad. But at the same time I knew you were in trouble, and I knew I had to try and help you if I could. I still remembered how to fight, so I just...tried to do what I could, I suppose."

"If that's the case, then Zoro and Robin must have a _tiny_ bit of something else besides their dreams in them," Chopper said, looking at the two crew mates in question thoughtfully. "They're not catatonic like Luffy is. Zoro was able to get up for a little while, you said. And Robin woke up, too, even if she went right back to sleep shortly after."

"Zoro tried to fight too," Usopp added helpfully. "I mean, he did it really _badly,_ and he had almost no effect, which is really weird to say about Zoro. But when it was just me and him when that swarm came he kept acting like he wanted to defend me."

Nami considered. "I guess that's true," she said to Chopper. "Robin changed a lot after we rescued her...she still wants to find the True History, but I think _we_ all became very important to her, too. And I guess she _did_ try to turn herself in for us, too, even if it would have ended her chances to find the True History..."

"And Sword-bro?" Franky asked.

"Zoro-san also has things he considers as important as his dream," Brook answered, surprisingly quietly. He did not elaborate, but to Nami's surprise Sanji-kun nodded grimly in agreement.

"Like what?" Chopper asked, puzzled, and Nami felt her own curiosity perking in interest as well.

But Brook looked rather hesitant to say anything more, and Sanji-kun said curtly, "It's not really important right now. Point is they can probably both function in a pinch, but not well. And even if we've figured this stuff out, it won't make the marimo any less useless than before, and Robin-chan won't be in any real condition to help, either."

Usopp nodded in agreement, and said rather pessimistically, "Sanji's right...even if we know how he could fight now, or why Luffy and Zoro and Robin are affected so bad, it still doesn't tell us how to help them. And maybe it's a _little_ reassuring to know if some of us get our Dreamshards stolen we won't go totally catatonic like Luffy...but I'd much rather keep my dream to myself and not have it stolen at all!"

"No," Nami said decisively, "We did still learn _something_ here. If we recover the Dreamshards, then we _can_ replace their dreams. Before we were just guessing, but now we know for sure," she added, gesturing at Sanji-kun.

"So the plan hasn't changed. Before, we figured their Dreamshards would be taken to the city on this island, and we were going to steal them back. And we're still going to. But now," she finished grimly, hefting her Clima-Tact, and the lengths of _Thousand Sunny_ cord wrapped around each section, "we know how to fight back. And those Nightmares are _definitely_ going to regret ever trying to mess with the dreams of the Straw Hat Pirates."

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><p>Gaaaah...so long, sorry guys!<p>

**Fun Fact:** The thing I most have in common with Luffy is that we're both raging carnivores. Meat is freakin' _fantastic,_ the redder, the better, and I am _extremely_ partial to a good steak, which my _entire family_ seems to know. Were I to meet Sanji, I wouldn't ask him for a dessert—I'd request Fillet Mignon. My mother seriously wonders if I'm part vampire 'cause I like all the delicious meat-juices too...mmmm...X3

~VelkynKarma


	12. Traveling

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part twelve of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own,_ One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"The question isn't would you die for a friend, it's do you have a friend worth dying for."<br>~Kristin Mikula

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><p>It was close to noon when the Straw Hat Pirates finally left their roadside meeting place. The sun directly over their heads was a comforting presence, wiggling through even the dense red-gold canopy overhead to splash light on the packed earth of the path.<p>

They had taken an hour to rest and discuss their new plans, more determined than ever to retrieve their nakama's stolen dreams. The break had largely been for Sanji-kun's benefit, since the cook had to recover from having his own Dreamshard stolen, but the rest was a blessing for Nami (and Usopp as well, she was sure), who had found it exhausting to fight on top of almost no sleep. She felt tired and sore all over, but sitting for a short while seemed to help her recover at least a little of her strength. By the end of the hour, while she wasn't exactly looking forward to hiking all over the island, at least she was sure she could manage it.

And while they rested, they talked strategy. Nami's team had initially discussed returning to the _Thousand Sunny_ to drop off the afflicted Zoro, but that plan seemed too risky now. With Chopper, Franky and Brook no longer on the ship to protect their dreamless friends, the _Sunny_ didn't seem quite as safe as before, even if they did anchor it out on the ocean and away from land. Nami was sure the unnatural storm that had dragged them to Asteria to begin with was connected to the Nightmares somehow, if the similar screams she had repeatedly heard were any indication. If the creatures summoned that storm again and Luffy, Zoro and Robin were dragged into the water...two of them couldn't even swim, and she doubted Zoro could either in his present state seeing as he could barely stand under his own power, let alone rescue them.

Besides, it was too far a trek to risk by now. It had taken them a full day to reach the village of Remia from where they'd docked the _Sunny_, and the city had to be even farther. They didn't know how much time their friends' dreams had left, or if this mysterious Queen of the Night could destroy them, but it wasn't worth the risk of wasting time. And even if they _did_ manage to recover the Dreamshards, they would still have to make the long journey back to the _Sunny_ to return them to their sickly crew mates—a journey during which they would inevitably be chased by the Nightmares trying to steal them back.

So, despite the worried looks from Usopp and Chopper in particular, it was decided that they'd just have to bring Luffy, Zoro and Robin with them during the strike at Oneirosa. It would create new risks, and they'd have to be watched and protected very carefully. But it would also mean they could restore their dreams as soon as they managed to recover them from the Nightmares and hopefully add them back into the Straw Hats' fighting-fit ranks. Sanji-kun had warned they would be tired, but none of the three were strangers to fighting under exhausting conditions—Nami was sure it would work out, somehow.

Sanji-kun had also been concerned about the plan for another reason: keeping them fed. "I haven't seen any sources of food since we've been here," he'd said flatly. "Robin-chan found hints of fields yesterday, but they're all dead, nothing's even growing wild. No animals, no fruit trees or wild vegetables, no fish in any of the streams we've passed. We can't fight these things on an empty stomach. We need all the strength we can get."

Which had been a perfectly valid point, Nami agreed, though it frustrated her. It would mean they'd have to go back to the ship after all, and waste precious time restocking just so they would be able to fight at their strongest, without shaking from hunger pangs. But Franky had come to their rescue in that regard. Grinning widely, he'd opened the enormous pack Chopper had carried on his back in Walk Point when they'd first arrived, revealing an abundance of non-perishable foods, and even a small cooler of his own creation packed with a number of fish.

"How did you get into my refrigerator?" Sanji-kun had asked with a mix of bewilderment and suspicion, after his initial relieved expression at the sight of the foodstuffs.

"I've got override codes from when I built everything," Franky had answered, a little smugly. Sanji-kun had looked horrified, but the cyborg had only laughed and said, "Don't worry, Curly-Cook, I won't share'em with Straw Hat. Promise."

Nami was impressed with the cyborg's foresight, and almost could have hugged him for it, now that things were so dire. In addition to the packed foods, Chopper had also brought a number of extra medical supplies for more serious injuries, and Franky had included a dozen extra _Thousand Sunny-_donated parts not intended for their weaponry, things that Nami was sure they could use to fortify a safe haven later. There was no need to return to the Sunny at all now, meaning they could enact _Rescue Mission: Recover our Nakama's Stolen Dreams!_ (as Usopp had dubbed it) immediately.

So as soon as they all felt significantly rested, and the sun was well overhead in the sky, they shouldered their packs and set off. Nami took the lead as their navigator, and grimly led them back towards Remia, with the others in tow. She wasn't one hundred percent sure where the city of Oneirosa was located, without an exact map. But Robin had mentioned it was at the center of the island, and Nami thought she had at least a rough idea of the direction in mind. She figured that, if she combined her rough estimates with the directions of the roads leading out of Remia—which Robin had also told them was a very important village, and connected to Oneirosa in some way—she could probably find it.

Still, even returning to that broken-down wreck of a town gave her the chills. Remia held terrible memories for her now, and she had her Clima-Tact (now temporarily serving as a walking staff) in a white-knuckled grip at the very thought of returning there. But if going there would help her and the others save Luffy's, Zoro's, and Robin's dreams, then she'd just have to suck it up and do it. Luffy wouldn't hesitate in the least, if their positions were reversed, and it was _her_ dream that he had to save.

Even with all of her determination, though, the going was still slow. She was exhausted, and knew for a fact that Usopp and Sanji-kun, at least, who had been through the same sleepless night as her, had to be as well. And they were still in possession of their dreams and relative strength, too. Their dreamless nakama provided a whole new set of problems, weakened as they were.

Zoro and Robin could barely walk, and while they had both been roused when the pirates first left, they frequently passed out for no reason at all, other than perhaps the exhausting internal struggle to keep pushing forward when there was no goal to motivate them in their empty minds. Neither one really complained, though they were both clearly suffering. Zoro swore furiously or muttered under his breath to himself sometimes, but when directly asked if he was okay, or needed a break, he would always stubbornly insist that he was perfectly fine even when he obviously wasn't. And Robin was silent as the grave. She never seemed to ignore them, exactly, and seemed almost anxious to know where her nakama were at all times, but she never contributed information or her own thoughts anymore, and sometimes didn't even bother to answer questions when asked. Neither one moved very fast, and both frequently tripped and stumbled, even when they weren't passing out.

In the end, the rest of the crew divided up Chopper's enormous load of supplies that he'd been carrying in Walk Point, while the reindeer carried their dreamless nakama on his back. His Walk Point was still not quite strong enough to carry the two of them at once—especially somebody as heavy as Zoro—although he swore he could do it in a pinch, if the Nightmares attacked all of a sudden. Instead, they had Robin and Zoro swap every half hour, one riding while the other was helped to walk, usually by Usopp, Sanji-kun, or Nami herself, who were closer in height range than Brook or Franky to their dreamless companions. Robin accepted the treatment wordlessly—she didn't seem to know how to argue anymore, or profess her own opinion on the matter, and simply submitted to their care with a quiet, almost disturbingly resigned air. By contrast, Zoro complained irritably every time he was forced to accept help, and especially when he was made to ride on Chopper, insisting that he _could_ walk—though unsurprisingly he'd pass out as soon as he was on the reindeer's back, which at least quieted him a little. Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about Luffy, who was returned to the sling across Franky's back as soon as they started moving. His occasional bouts of empty chanting were certainly disturbing, but at least they had no trouble moving him.

It took them almost two and a half hours to get back to Remia, and Nami shuddered as she watched the broken down buildings come into focus ahead of them again. It was just about two thirty in the afternoon by Sanji-kun's watch, and everyone, even Franky, Chopper, and Brook, was ready for a well-deserved break. Nami allowed it—she wanted nothing more than to rip her sandals off and lay down for a nap by this point, herself—but with a great show of self-discipline insisted they wouldn't stay here too long.

"We were attacked here before," she said by way of reasoning. "We know for a fact the Nightmares can find us here again. I know we can fight them now, but better to avoid confrontations at all if we can. And we might've been able to hide for one night, but I don't think we'll be so lucky the second time." She swallowed slightly, unable to completely hide her fear of being stuck in that hole for another night, listening to the Nightmares clatter above her.

The others nodded in agreement, especially Usopp and Sanji-kun, who remembered all too well the literally Nightmarish experience alongside her.

"What shall we do then?" Brook inquired. "I understand that we plan to attack this Oneirosa City, but I certainly don't think we can accomplish it tonight. Nami-san, Sanji-san, and Usopp-san look dead on their feet...though certainly not quite to _my_ level, yohohoho!"

"He's right," Chopper agreed. The doctor had reverted to Brain Point for the break, though he still sat next to Zoro and Robin, both of whom were passed out cold with their heads pillowed on packs. "I know _I'm_ tired, and we got a good night's rest last night. You guys have been through _two_ battles on top of not sleeping at all, that's definitely not healthy. If we try and fight this Queen of the Night thing, and the other Nightmares, when you're like this...you'll get hurt, really bad." He looked worried.

"I don't intend to try fighting them tonight," Nami said. "We're already halfway through the afternoon. I'm sure by the time we get close to the city, it'll be close to sunset as well. I know they're not harmed by sunlight, but they _will_ be at least a little blinded, and I'd rather use any advantage we can get. At any rate, we definitely don't want to fight them at night,_ they'll_ have the advantage then."

Usopp shuddered. "You're right. We definitely don't want that." And he glanced anxiously at the two sprawled out, exhausted forms of their nakama on the ground, and at the sling still wound carefully around Franky's shoulders.

"So what do we do then, Nami-san?" Sanji-kun asked, lighting up a cigarette (Franky had grabbed him a fresh pack as well, knowing the cook's unfortunate ability to go through far more than he should in a day).

Nami considered. "We'll keep going," she decided eventually. "We need to get as close as possible to the city without being _in_ it, so we can scout it out and be close enough to smash our way in there before the Nightmares can react. I bet they've never had anybody attack them in their own nest before. We could probably catch them by surprise."

"We don't know that there will be any shelter farther ahead, though," Usopp pointed out, looking worried. "I mean, if we're going to attack during the day, we'd need to stay out there somewhere overnight." He gestured with a wide sweep of his hand to the woods, winced only a little when it pulled on his injured arm. "And we'd be closer to those..._things._ It'd be bad enough if we got caught by Harvesters or Shepherds, but I bet those arm...snake..._whatevers_ live closer to the city, too. And those basket-monsters."

"The snake-arms do seem to only show up in large groups," Brook added helpfully. "Three of them attacked the _Thousand Sunny_, and it looked like they were directing the smaller ones, like captains or generals. There probably would be many more closer to the city."

Nami blinked in surprise. "Generals, that was one of the four terms Robin translated for us," she realized. "Harvesters, Shepherds, Generals, and Attendants. Which means those ones are probably the smartest, and the most difficult to beat."

"That must make the basket-Nightmare an Attendant, then," Sanji-kun observed. "The one that didn't seem like a combatant. Makes sense...Robin-chan said they were made to deliver what her other servants harvested, and it was the only one that could carry the Dreamshards around easily, in its basket." He looked a little more enthusiastic now. "Those are the ones we'd have to search for, and Robin-chan said there were only three of them, so if we can find them..."

"Then we can get everyone else's dreams back," Chopper finished enthusiastically.

"But that's only if we can get close enough!" Usopp protested. "Like I said, they'll be swarming all over, and if we don't have a shelter to survive the night in—"

"Don't sweat it, Usopp," Franky cut in. "If it's a city, it's bound to have a lot of storehouses and stuff on the outskirts, too. It takes a lot to supply people in a big place like that with everything they need. Water Seven was a lot like that before the Sea Train was built, and we didn't have outside resources like this place. They'd definitely supply themselves from farms and shops and stuff on the outside. As long as we can find a building a little more isolated, then _Sunny_ can help us make it safe, easy!"

Usopp looked a little more reassured now, and Nami nodded in agreement. "Right. We should be able to find someplace we can use, as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves, so we need to avoid fighting at all costs! Franky can fortify our shelter for the night with scraps from the _Sunny_, and it will give us a place to rest, hide Luffy, Zoro, and Robin, and make a plan of action."

No one else objected, and after resting for about twenty minutes they set off once more, sharing a little water around from their flasks and rousing the two dreamless members of their crew. Nami led them to the Northernmost part of Remia, and after a little searching they managed to find an ancient pathway that seemed to run in the same direction as her rough estimate of Oneirosa's location. Hefting their weapons and circling protectively around Zoro, Robin, and their two supporters (presently Chopper and Usopp), they set off down the road towards their goal and, hopefully, the missing dreams of their crew.

This new stage of their travels went just as slowly as before, though this time the reason was place solely on Zoro's and Robin's inability to move very fast. Nami still felt tired, and she was sure Sanji-kun and Usopp were too (although the former would never, ever admit to it as long as she was around, Nami was sure) but their short rest in Remia had put a little strength back in her step.

That, and the newfound determination of the group as well, now that they had a plan. Up until now, their wanderings all over the island of Asteria had been fairly silent, and their groups always thick with tension. That tension was still there now—Nami didn't think it would disappear completely, as long as Luffy, Zoro and Robin were around to silently remind them of how much they had lost, and how much they could _still_ lose. But now it was dampened by a fierce resolve, as each of the remaining Straw Hats—even the normally timid ones like Usopp and Chopper—prepared themselves for the coming battle, and strove to protect their vulnerable crew mates. They had a way to fight back now, and a plan of attack, and the Nightmares had hurt their friends. The Straw Hat Pirates would never let that stand, and that fueled them in a way that nothing else could.

It was fortunate, in a way, because the deeper they went into what was clearly Nightmare territory, the more encounters they had. The roads had been relatively clear for them for the past day, and Nami would have been inclined to say the creatures ignored them entirely if they hadn't been attacked on the road that morning. But it seemed that Remia was a marking stone in the creatures' habitat, and when they began the trek towards what Nami hoped was Oneirosa they started coming across patrols of the ugly, terror-inspiring creatures. They were clearly routine, unlike the hoards of Nightmares that had attacked them previously: usually three or four of the ugly brutes, mostly Harvesters, and occasionally a larger group that included a Shepherd as well. Once, very far into the journey, when the forest started breaking up around them and it was only a few hours before sunset by Nami's estimation, they had even come across a party of ten of the disgusting creatures, with not one but _two_ Shepherds herding them.

Even early that morning, if Nami had encountered one of those patrols—even _thought_ about encountering them, or walking straight into their territory like they were now—her stomach would have gone cold with the terror and hopelessness of the situation. Before they had barely survived against three of the creatures, and the only reason they were still standing was because the Nightmares chose to retreat. Wandering into dozens of patrols, with the willing intention of hurling oneself into their nest, sounded like a suicide mission.

But the crew was prepared now, and had already worked out a little strategy. Before the patrols were terrifying, but now they were a perfect chance to practice executing their new plans before the actual battles began. While whoever was caring for their dreamless crew mates—usually Chopper, with Usopp or Nami assisting the non-rider—hung back defensively, the others charged forward to lay waste to the patrolling Nightmares. The creatures enthusiastically engaged them, hoping to steal another Dreamshard or two, not realizing they were hopelessly outmatched now.

Franky's _Sunny_-based weaponry was just as effective as before, and turned their previously barely-felt attacks into monster-destroying one-shot kills. Brook's music stunned the creatures before they in turn could stun the pirates with their strange terror-blasts, ruining their most effective technique, and everyone else had at least one Nightmare-kill to their credit. Even Nami, who had to use her Clima-Tact like her old bo-staff to make effective use of the Sunny's enhancements, was able to wallop one or two straight in the head and send them bursting into oily smoke. Indeed, some proved even more effective at Nightmare-killing than others: Usopp's new nail artillery, now dubbed "Dream Stars," was extraordinarily useful for killing groups of the creatures at range, and Sanji-kun's new _Sunny_-powered kicks were now strong enough to kill even the much more enduring Shepherds in one hit. They were always careful to completely decimate any Nightmare patrol they came across, to prevent news of their movements from getting back to the creatures' nests, and pushed their way steadily forward into the black heart of Asteria.

Even with Zoro and Robin to slow them down, Nami was still satisfied as they moved onward. They were making good time, and while frequent Nightmare patrols made their progress somewhat halting, at least they were no longer being stopped in their tracks, or worse, forced to retreat. She didn't have a pedometer with her, or a map in her head to calculate how many miles they'd treked since Remia, but she was sure it was quite a few.

About three hours before dark, by her calculations, the forest was already beginning to recede completely, replaced by open fields and the occasional strip of broken-down buildings that might have once served as trading posts. It wasn't a town, not really. But it was an indicator of a former civilization, and, as Franky had pointed out, once a place where the city of Oneirosa had likely purchased many of its necessary foodstuffs and other trade goods to supply its citizens. In the distance she could see an enormous structure that she mistook at first in the lengthening afternoon shadows to be a huge hill, or a small mountain. It was Usopp who first pointed out, with his much better eyesight, that it was actually an enormous wall.

"That must be it, then," Nami said triumphantly. "If it's a wall, I'd bet anything it's the city border for Oneirosa. We've made it."

"You're simply amazing, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said delightedly, pausing at the front of the group where he'd once again taken point to spin around and shower her with praises. His mood had improved considerably with the recovery of his dream and the proof that he could, as he put it, 'flambe those shitty spiders,' and he seemed far less tense than he'd been that morning.

"I know," she said, pleased with herself. Finding the city had been a shot in the dark—admittedly an _educated_ shot in the dark—but the fact that they'd come across it first-try was enlightening.

"We'd better find a place to hide then," Usopp said with a frown. He was currently taking his turn hefting Zoro around, who was certainly not making things any easier as he seemed to have temporarily passed out again. Even so, the sniper managed to juggle their currently not-a-swordsman enough to lower one of his goggle extensions and take a quick sweep of the area. "We've got a little tree and building cover here, but if we go any farther we'll be on open ground, and in the dark those Nightmares will catch us easy."

Franky nodded in agreement. "I don't see any right now, but I'm sure that'll change soon. Usopp is right...we should find a place to hole up for the night and make it safe while we've still got daylight."

"I agree," Nami said decisively. "Franky, you're our building expert, and you know how many _Sunny_ reinforcement supplies we have. Pick out a place you think you can fortify that will still have room for all of us."

"You got it, sis!" the cyborg said, and somehow managed to fit his plank-weapon into one of his classic poses. "I'll find us a _super_ place to hide!"

In the end their shipwright settled on a small storage barn, about the size of the boys' cabin back on the _Thousand Sunny._ Once upon a time, Nami supposed the stone structure had probably been used for storing seeds or harvesting supplies, or maybe for the furs or produce its owners found in the forest. The building was still fairly intact for being centuries old, and was set partially in the edge of the red-gold forest's tree-line, at the back of a large farming property. It was large enough for all of them and their supplies, with a little extra space so they weren't all crammed in like canned sardines, and hidden enough from view that any fortifications they added to the building wouldn't be immediately noticed by the Nightmares unless they were carefully scrutinized.

Usopp and Chopper waited outside with their dreamless crew mates, and Franky for additional backup, while Sanji-kun, Nami and Brook explored the little storage barn from top to bottom, examining every square inch of its dusty confines. Like the cellar they had spent the previous night in, there were a few broken remnants of what had once been tools and ceramic jars for storage, but little else, and certainly nothing alive or threatening. There was no second floor, not that they would have used it, and the walls and roof were still in fairly decent condition, with only a few small holes here and there. Most important to Nami was the thick coating of dust on the dirt-packed floor, which had no recent tracks at all from any creature beyond their own footsteps. Nightmares had not entered this place in a long, long time, not since their food source in the area had vanished centuries ago, and that meant they likely wouldn't be returning any time soon, either.

The navigator deemed the shed safe after their thorough investigation, and the rest of the crew immediately set to work. Luffy, Zoro and Robin were brought inside the relative safety of the shed and laid out on the blankets that Franky had packed in with their other supplies. Zoro and Robin were awake again, and occasionally tried to sit up or (in Zoro's case) even try to leave, insisting on helping with the defenses. Both were still clearly exhausted and very weak, though, and never lasted very long before passing out again or simply laying back down to rest. _Those_ fits were starting to happen more often, which worried Nami, but there was little they could do about that.

Luffy never stirred at all once he was laid out, only continued to stare up at the ceiling with his eyes blank and empty. As always he would occasionally start ranting quietly about how something—something that they now knew was his Pirate King dream—had been stolen from him. Now that he was within earshot of the other two dreamless Straw Hats, his ranting only served to hurt them: both Zoro and Robin would almost frantically cover their ears and wince in pain as they were reminded of a loss they clearly could not comprehend and didn't want to consider.

It was infuriating and saddening to watch, seeing three of the strongest, most driven people they knew suffering in such an unfair way. But it also kicked the rest of the crew into gear, working at the height of their abilities to defend themselves and prepare for an all-out onslaught the next morning. While Chopper remained with their three invalids, keeping them as comfortable as possible or (in Zoro's case) from doing anything rash, Franky recruited Usopp and Brook for setting up their fortifications. Rolls of sailcloth were unfurled and fastened securely to each of the storage barn's four walls on the outside, preventing another case of the creatures potentially bursting through and taking them unawares. Nami suggested using Robin's scent trick as a passive defense, and donated her jacket to the cause when Franky agreed that it was an excellent idea. By the time they were finished setting that up, not even Chopper—temporarily called outside to lend his nose to the defense—could tell where the scents originated from. Perhaps most encouraging of all was Usopp's ingenious (though she'd never outright tell him that) little invention, stringing several pieces of cord from the _Sunny_ as booby-traps; springing them wouldn't hurt the Straw Hats, but would certainly kill one or two Nightmares, and give the crew advanced warning that the monsters were approaching to boot. And through it all Sanji-kun kept himself quietly (for once) perched in the high boughs of one of the larger red-gold trees, keeping an eye and an ear out for any oncoming Nightmares that might pose a threat.

They worked quickly and efficiently, and Nami found herself fleetingly wishing the boys could be this focused back on the _Thousand Sunny_. She killed the thought quickly. Their fooling around was annoying, but she'd pay almost anything to be back on the ship yelling at them for their antics right about now, because it would mean everything was back to normal. The thought was sobering—she'd been having a lot of those lately, she realized with a grimace—and used it as further incentive to fix this whole mess and recover her nakama's dreams. After half an hour of solid, relatively quiet work, their temporary home was well prepared and ready for any Nightmare attack.

Now they just had to prepare themselves. Sanji-kun traded places with Usopp and dropped out of his tree-perch, saying something about dinner, while the rest of the crew (sans Chopper, still inside their shelter) gathered together for a quick discussion.

"We should still have watches, sis," Franky said seriously, folding his massive arms across his chest. "These defenses should hold pretty well against an actual Nightmare attack, but it's probably still safer if we keep an eye out before we have to use them."

"You're right," Nami said, and from above them Usopp added his own agreement, volunteering to go first since he was already watching. She nodded up to him in thanks, and added, "You guys figure out a watch schedule. Make sure one of you three go first...those of us that were out last night are going to need all the rest we can get."

"Sure," Franky said with a frown. "But, sis, you always organize the watch shifts, even back on _Sunny_. Why the change of pace?"

"Because I've got other plans," Nami said decisively. "While you guys keep watch and guard Luffy and the others, I'm sneaking into Oneirosa City."

Usopp spluttered from above, Franky and Brook looked stunned, and Sanji-kun and Chopper emerged from the confines of their temporary base with equally shocked expressions on their faces. "Are you _crazy_, Nami?" Usopp finally managed to yelp from his perch in the tree. "If you go in there they'll tear you apart!"

"I don't think so," Nami said seriously, "Not if I'm careful." The others looked doubtful, and to be honest she couldn't blame them. The very thought of going into an almost-literal spider's nest like that made her want to curl up in a ball and whimper to herself. Entering Oneirosa was the _last_ thing on her list that she wanted to do.

But she had to do it; there was no other way. "Look," she said, explaining carefully, "Our attack tomorrow has to be so fast they won't know what hit them. We need to punch through these Nightmares so sharp and quick they don't have time to recover, and push further in the advantage the confusion will give us. We might be able to fight back against these things, but they still outnumber us ten to one, at least...if we go in there unprepared, we're doomed."

"We've got weapons to fight back now," Chopper said doubtfully.

"And music to stun them," Brook added. "I certainly wouldn't call us unprepared."

"But Oneirosa is a _city_, guys," Nami said. "Think about how confusing it was to find our way around Water Seven before we were familiar with the place. Or what about all the towns we visited in Alabasta? We don't know the layout of Oneirosa, but if it's a city, it's bound to be confusing. If we just barge in there without having a slightest clue about the city's layout, we'll lose any advantage we gained with our preparations, wandering around like Zoro trying to find his way back to the ship." It was a particularly poignant reminder of the importance of the attack, invoking one of her crew members, while at the same time accurately describing _exactly_ what would happen if they just threw themselves at the city without any preparation at all. The others looked grim, understanding all too well what she meant.

"Not only that," she pressed, "But while we're staggering around the city, trying to find out where to go, we'll be fighting our way through hordes of Nightmares. And not just the soldier Harvesters, either, but the _really_ tough ones, the Shepherds and Generals—" truly it was ironic to think of the Harvesters as _easy_ to beat now, when they'd caused so much trouble only that morning, "—and even if we can beat them, they'll still be wearing us down the entire time. Imagine if we came across this Queen of the Night in that state...how well do you think we'd do? What if we get the others' Dreamshards back, only to let them die because we couldn't defend them long enough for them to recover?"

The others looked worried now as she pointed out these problems, and more than one glanced back anxiously at their temporary shelter, where their three dreamless nakama were safely stowed.

"That's why I've got to go in tonight, before the sun goes down completely," she said, gesturing to the sky. "There's maybe two hours left. If I can sneak in, I can at least figure out a general direction for us to attack in. Maybe even plan out some routes for us to take, or what building the Queen of the Night is in. If it gives us another advantage tomorrow..." She let it hang.

"But they'll catch you, Nami," Chopper said, his voice small, more childlike than usual. "If you go in there they'll find you and steal your Dreamshard!"

"Nonsense," Nami said, forcing an edge of cheer into her voice that she hardly felt. "I used to be a thief, remember? Just because I'm Luffy's navigator now doesn't mean I forgot how to stay unseen. I'll sneak in nice and quiet, take a look around, and sneak right back out. They won't even see me, let alone catch me." They still looked unsatisfied, and so she sighed and said in exasperation, "Look, you can argue with me all you want, but I'm still going. You're lucky I'm even planning to _sneak_ in...if this was Luffy, he'd just decide to break down the doors and fight everything right now, even _with_ darkness coming."

That actually got a chuckle out of the remainder of the crew, and though they still looked concerned for her safety, Franky, Brook, and Chopper eventually nodded, and Usopp wished her good luck from up in his tree. Sanji-kun, however, was more of a problem: he met her eyes levelly and said firmly, "I think you have a good point, Nami-san, but I'm going with you."

"Sanji-kun—" she started, but he held up a hand to forestall her.

"I apologize for interrupting you, Nami-san," he said, and she could tell he sincerely meant it, "But I can't let you go alone, especially not in there with those shitty spiders and Hell only knows what else. I'm sorry, and I'll do whatever you say, but you can't go in there by yourself."

It was a very, _very_ rare moment of assertion towards any woman, let alone herself, and for a moment Nami was tempted to punch him in the head for practically giving her an _order._ She forced herself to cool down, however—clearly, her over-tiredness was starting to fuel her temper more than it should—and after thinking it over more carefully, realized his insistence on coming was actually a good idea. Even if they did have the ability to defeat the Nightmares with their new assortment of Dream-powered weaponry, it still wasn't a good idea to face even one Nightmare single-handedly, much less a whole city full of them. And as sneaking partners went, Sanji-kun wasn't a bad choice. When he wasn't doting on girls, he had a clear head for strategy, and had proven himself more than capable of creeping around to assist the crew in some way. His masquerade as Mr. Prince back in Alabasta, or his actions at Enies Lobby, came immediately to mind. She knew he could be stealthy, and having an extra set of eyes to look for routes, clues, or potential enemies definitely wouldn't hurt.

"Okay," Nami agreed, after a moment, and Sanji-kun practically wiggled delightedly as she accepted his offer—never mind that he probably would have followed her anyway, even if she _had_ forbidden it. "Sanji-kun is with me. The rest of you, try and get some rest and get ready for tomorrow...we should be back in a few hours."

Sanji-kun frowned. "I didn't have a chance to make dinner, but—"

"Don't sweat it, Curly-Cook," Franky said, waving a hand. "Daylight's burnin' and we can wait a few hours. If we get really hungry I'll just dole out some of the stuff that doesn't need any preparations."

"Don't waste it," Sanji-kun ordered sharply. "Okay, Nami-san...lead on! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if I must!"

"Keep your voice down," she ordered sharply. And after checking that her Clima-Tact was still carefully wrapped in the Sunny's cord and strapped firmly to her leg, she set off towards the towering walls of ancient Oneirosa City, Sanji-kun on her heels.

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><p>Buuh...sorry this is so late, guys. I wanted to have it up earlier, but just couldn't motivate myself to edit it. <strong>VelkynKarma is weak against Rain<strong>. It's like my personal creativity-sapping seastone.

**Fun Fact:** Sanji is probably one of the characters I have the _least_ amount of things in common with (which probably explains why I love him so much). I can't cook for my life, I abhor smoking, romance bores me, I have no interest in dating, and I'm pretty non-aggressive by nature. We don't even share the same hair color or gender! If I had to find a common denominator, I'd probably say that we both swear _far_ more often than people initially expect of us (I come across as polite and soft spoken to the untrained eye...but I do love me some curse words). But, that's probably not a good thing, haha.

~VelkynKarma


	13. Stealth

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part thirteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Sorry for the wait! Just as I finished my final edits on this, I was unexpectedly called to go out to dinner with some visiting family members.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"You're early, Lord Breeze."<br>"Of course I am. I had to make certain this wasn't a trap of some sort. This isn't a trap of some sort, right?"  
>~<em>The Well of Ascension,<em> Brandon Sanderson

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><p>Getting to the city walls took a little under a half hour of careful jogging, but the trip itself was uneventful. She and Sanji-kun dodged behind ancient, abandoned houses and down the centers of rocky, currently dry ditches that the navigator thought might have been the remains of a one-time irrigation system for the empty fields outside the city. Although they saw a few Nightmare patrols, they were able to keep out of sight of the roaming Harvesters and Shepherds, ducking behind and into the broken remains of the old civilization all around them until the hellish creatures had passed. The monsters didn't smell them either, thanks to Chopper. Before they had left their shelter, the reindeer had passed the two a small bottle of spray that would neutralize their scent.<p>

_"It will only last a short while,"_ the doctor had explained, _"that's why I didn't volunteer it for our preparations, but if it helps you not get caught you can take it."_

Nami had to hand it to the little reindeer: the solution had done wonders. She couldn't even smell the heavy scent of cigarettes that had long since sunk into Sanji-kun's suits. It might not last long, but it would certainly help their reconnaissance mission.

So it was that they reached Oneirosa's towering walls without incident, ducking into the deep shadows at its base as they searched for some sort of opening. Sanji-kun pointed out the city's southern gates with a sharp, but silent, gesture. Nami had spotted them as well, but after a moment shook her head. While the heavy stone doors that had once blocked the entrance appeared to have long since been broken down, leaving the city permanently open and exposed on its southern side, the creatures were obviously intelligent enough to recognize this as a potential weakness. Harvesters crawled back and forth over Oneirosa's threshold, up the broken doors, even upside-down at the top of the gate archway. Sanji-kun could probably kill the creatures easily enough, but at the expense of advertising exactly where they were, and that wasn't a gamble Nami was willing to take.

"Come on," she breathed, voice barely audible, but Sanji-kun nodded immediately and followed after her as she trotted along the base of the wall, away from the creatures. She let him watch her back, and trailed one hand carefully along the old, crumbling stone of the city wall, keeping her eyes peeled for anything unusual. There was always more than one way into any city or town, she knew from her past experiences as a thief, even in newer cities still being cared for. Thieves could almost never leave by the common exits, not without getting caught. If there was a way out, there was a way _in_ too. And with a city several hundred years in disrepair, the chances of a less than reputable entrance were even greater.

Not ten minutes later she found it, grinning triumphantly to herself at her success. A smaller gate, probably once used for mounted cavaliers or soldiers bypassing the crowds at the main gate, had been carved into the side of the wall ages ago. Once upon a time the doorway had probably been less than twice her height, although the door itself had long since vanished...probably rotted away, or destroyed. The Nightmares, probably the Generals, had blocked up the doorway with large, heavy stones. But the abominations clearly weren't made for building things, only destroying them, and the wall and stones had long since started crumbling, leaving cracks wide enough for a small human being.

Sanji-kun wanted to go first, but Nami vetoed him firmly, handing him her Clima-Tact after removing one of the cords to wrap around her fist. "I'm smaller than you, Sanji-kun," she stated firmly. "If anything is on the other side, I can probably get back through this crack faster than you can. It's safer for me to go first." He had protested as loudly as he dared, but she ignored him, wiggling into the largest of the cracks as she began to work her way into the city.

Sanji-kun fell silent—which she expected, since he would never go so far as to forcefully pull her back out—and she set her mind to her work. The crack in the wall was big enough for a person, but only barely, and was tricky to maneuver through. She had to walk sideways, sidestepping awkwardly over broken-down rubble at her feet, and had to practically hold her breath as she sucked in her chest (a minor disadvantage to her otherwise extremely beneficial cleavage; it was of no consequence, really). It was a good thing she'd taken off her Clima-Tact before starting—there was no way she'd be able to make it through, otherwise. But after several minutes she was finally able to work her way through to the other side, and poked her head carefully out of the wall into the interior of Oneirosa, her _Sunny_-cord wrapped hand at the ready.

She saw dusty, gray streets and broken down buildings that looked like they might have been shops once upon a time, but nothing moved, and she saw not a hint of a Nightmare.

"It's clear," she whispered back through the crack. "Hurry. And throw me my Clima-Tact first. _Carefully._"

Sanji-kun did as bid, carefully tossing the three pieces as close as he could with all the strange bends in the crack. Nami had to climb partway back in, but was able to retrieve her weapon easily enough, and replaced the weapon on the straps at her leg after re-affixing the _Sunny's_ cord to it. Sanji-kun came next, wiggling his way through the crack as best as he was able. Once he got stuck for a moment, being much larger than Nami, and it was only thanks to his Red Leg-granted flexibility that he was able to maneuver his way out at all.

But at last he, too, was through, crouching next to her as he stretched his legs in preparation and checked that the sailcloth tied to his shoes was still intact. Nami nodded in quiet satisfaction. They were in, for now. That crack wouldn't be of much use tomorrow—they'd certainly never get Zoro and Robin through it in their current states, and Franky was too large to fit through it at all—but they hadn't been seen for now, and that suited her purposes fine.

"Keep an eye out for anything that might be useful," Nami said, trusting that Sanji-kun _would_ actually be capable of finding useful things. "Anything that tells us where this Queen of the Night is, or where the Dreamshards might be kept. Anything that gives us an edge when we storm this place tomorrow. Once we know where to head, I can try to map out a route for us to take to get there fast."

"Of course, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said immediately, and he was already looking around, his one visible eye glancing about sharply as he searched for clues and threats alike. Doing the same, Nami took a deep breath and then slunk down the closest street, all of her senses on full alert for anything dangerous approaching.

They moved carefully but quickly, aware with each passing second of the sun falling still lower above them. Nami knew she definitely did _not_ want to be caught in Oneirosa for very long after dark fell, even with all the precautions they'd taken, and was determined to make this self-given mission go as fast as possible while still being as efficient as she could. So she darted quietly between streets, behind ancient buildings and broken-down rubble that passed for cover, and kept her eyes open for anything, any clue, that they could use to find her nakama's Dreamshards. Sanji-kun kept pace with her easily, spreading out enough that they could cover the streets fully when searching, while still close enough to come to her aid if necessary.

But despite all their preparedness, Nami was quickly coming to realize after a mere fifteen minutes of efficient searching that they were getting nowhere. At first glance, the streets of Oneirosa had seemed well organized, arranged in neat blocks that would be easy to navigate and mentally record in her head. But she soon came to realize the city was anything _but_ organized. The streets twisted and doubled back on themselves so frequently that Nami almost felt like she was trapped on a mobius strip, and it was a wonder the alleys led anywhere at all when their routes were so circular. After the third time stumbling across the same city square in as many minutes, she was beginning to wonder if the place could be navigated through at all (and also if this was how Zoro felt when he went _anywhere_). And that was before factoring in the wreckage of the city too; some streets were so blocked off with collapsed buildings and old rubble that they essentially functioned as dead-ends, making the explorations even more difficult. Thankfully, Sanji-kun was intelligent enough not to comment, and if she had any frustrated satisfaction from the whole mess at all, it was that he looked just as confused as she did.

Worse still were the patrols. It had become painfully obvious to the two Straw Hats that the creatures' nest of Oneirosa was patrolled frequently and heavily by all three of the combative types of Nightmares, and trying to avoid them was a nightmare in and of itself. All too frequently they would find themselves out in the middle of a street when the telltale sound of clicking spider legs or the slap of hundreds of propelling hands could be heard just up ahead. In those situations they had little choice but to drop whatever they were doing and dart for the nearest form of cover, crouching behind the broken skeletons of shops or homes, or inside buildings that creaked frighteningly in their old age, until the monstrous, frightening creatures passed. Once, when there was no other cover to be had, Sanji-kun had been forced to snatch her up and leap atop the nearest shop, thankfully only one story in height. The impact of landing had cracked the ancient roof and nearly sent the both of them plummeting through it, but they were able to scramble to a safer corner and anxiously wait for the clicking of six Harvesters to fade as the horrible creatures passed.

Even now, even with the ability to fight them off, and even with the experience of having killed more than one of the monsters herself, Nami nevertheless found herself shivering at the nearly tangible cloud of fear the creatures seemed to exude in the depths of their massive nest. She frequently glanced towards wherever Sanji-kun was hiding, reassuring herself that she wasn't alone after all. Now that she was here, she was glad he'd insisted upon coming. The city felt a little less hopeless than it would have if she were totally alone, apart from the Nightmares that had long since overrun it.

Still, they did make a little progress, for all their frustrations. Despite getting turned around so many times, Nami was pretty sure they were still managing to go north, where she assumed the center of the city was. It was difficult to say, though. The sun was getting very low in the sky now, and even though the buildings were old and crumbling they still towered above her, obscuring much of the sky from view. Still, she trusted her instincts, and she'd always been good at instinctively knowing the cardinal directions, at least. And while it was extremely difficult to mentally map out the city in her head as they travelled, for every dead end or turnabout she made sure she memorized some portion of her surroundings, a particular building or an odd-shaped hole in the cobblestones, as a landmark to make sure they didn't take the wrong route again.

Sanji-kun was able to make a discovery, too, perhaps half an hour into their search. They had reached another square in the city—Oneirosa seemed to have quite a lot of them, open spaces with the broken remains of fountains or statues that had probably once been ideal gathering places back in its heyday—and after careful observation had decided to cross it. The squares were tricky; running across them was a risk, because there was no place to hide if a patrol decided to arrive at that moment, out in the open. But as far as Nami could tell they needed to move forward, on the other side, in order to move further into the heart of the city.

So they began the dash across, but halfway Sanji-kun suddenly stopped and veered towards the center of the clearing, where a pile of cracked stones indicated a structure of some sort that had once stood there. It took Nami several seconds to realize she couldn't hear Sanji-kun's footsteps behind her anymore, and then she slid to a stop, swearing under her breath as she turned around to rejoin him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed lowly, trying very hard to not start yelling—that certainly wouldn't help matters any. "We're going to get caught!"

"My apologies, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said immediately. "I just...I thought I saw something." He gestured to the stones on the broken cobbles, and now that she was closer Nami realized several of them were broad and flat, if a bit worn from age.

"They look like...signposts?" she observed slowly, frowning. "And is that writing?"

"That's what I thought," Sanji-kun agreed. "And I think it is, look..." Crouching down next to one of the flat tablets, he brushed some of the dust and dirt from its face and pointed triumphantly at one of the three characters carved into its surface. "This is the one Robin-chan taught us!"

"That's the dream character, alright," Nami agreed, brushing her hair behind her ear as she looked at the small tablet over Sanji-kun's shoulder. "The second one, that one that really worried her...the different one." She glanced at the other two characters that 'dream' was next to, but they were incomprehensible to her, a collection of more hard shapes and squiggly lines that meant nothing at all as far as she were concerned. She hissed in frustration. Why did Robin have to have her dream stolen? This was probably a very important hint to the organization of the city, and they couldn't even read it without her!

"There were other tablets like this too," Sanji-kun said, tapping the flat bit of stone as he spoke. "At the corners of some of the bigger streets, and I think I saw parts of one in another city square. This is the first one that looked mostly intact, though. I think they're supposed to be like street signs."

"Good work, Sanji-kun," she congratulated him, and even in the depths of this Nightmare nest his face split into an enormous lovesick grin at her praise. Thankfully he was at least smart enough not to start shouting with delight; that would _certainly_ attract all the Nightmares in the area. "Can you tell which way that particular one was pointing? If it's giving directions to something related to dreams, I think it's a safe bet that we want to find it."

Sanji-kun nodded, and pushed several of the tablets around like puzzle pieces, trying to roughly reconstruct the ancient signpost from its broken-down state. The stones grated alarmingly on the cobbles, and Nami winced, glancing around the clearing anxiously. She expected the Nightmares to come trampling into the clearing after them, screaming bloody murder and blasting them with waves of anxiety and fear. Thankfully none of the creatures showed up, and moments later Sanji-kun stood.

"It's hard to say," he finally muttered with a sigh. "I'm a cook, not an archaeologist. If only Robin-chan were here—" He grimaced, shook his head as he cut himself off, and continued with forced calm and a quick gesture, "I _think_ it's this way, though."

Nami didn't hesitate, darting off down the street Sanji-kun pointed to. They had spent too much time in this clearing already, and she absolutely did not want to be spotted. Sanji-kun followed hot on her heels, looking just as determined as she felt.

From there, the going was slightly easier—Nami thought, anyway. They found several more of the signposts at regular intervals, sometimes planted at the end of streets, other times located in the middle of other clearings. Most of these were in poor condition, but there was usually enough left for them to roughly reconstruct the signposts or at least make an educated guess as to the directions they were giving, and they always looked for and followed the 'dream' character when they could. It was ultimately a shot in the dark, and she still wasn't entirely sure _what_ it was they were heading towards, but she had a good feeling—relatively speaking—about the direction they were heading in. As far as she could tell, they were still heading generally north, although it wasn't always easy to gauge; the signs pointed them in unusual directions, twisting sideways and even backwards, but the unusual curves of the city's routes ultimately led to them moving forward in the end. It felt a bit like running around in a maze based off a celtic knot she'd seen on a ring back on Adamantina. But they were moving north, and progress was progress.

And she could tell they were progressing in another way, too, because the patrols were getting more frequent, and the number of Nightmares they had to hide from was rising.

At first Nami almost didn't notice. By now, a good forty-five minutes into their search, it was practically second nature to drop everything and dart for the nearest hiding place at the sounds of clicking, scraping, and hissing ahead or behind them, and it took her a while to realize she was hearing those sounds increasingly more often. The further they followed the signposts' estimated directions into Oneirosa, though, the more they had to stop for patrols, and the longer it took for the much larger sizes of the groups to pass. It was terrifying to see so many of the creatures so close, frequently only an arms-length or two away from wherever she'd chosen to hide as they shuffled and clicked past indifferently, but at the same time it was probably a good sign. After all, her nakama's dreams would have been taken deep into the heart of the Nightmares' nest, where the Queen of the Night almost certainly resided, and wherever the majority of them gathered was probably where they needed to go.

Unfortunately it made progressing much further very difficult. The Nightmare patrols were becoming _too_ frequent now, and barely had Nami and Sanji-kun crawled their way out of their hiding places before the next tell-tale signs of yet another traveling pack of Nightmares came, forcing them to go right back into hiding. There had even been one terrifying ten-minute stretch of time during which the Nightmares hadn't let up at all, forcing Nami to crouch in a shivering panic behind a small pile of rubble that felt entirely too inadequate and exposed as a hiding place. She spent the frighteningly long time-span clutching one section of her Clima-Tact and wondering if she would be able to escape at all, or if the creatures would just keep coming for an eternity until she had rotted away into dust like everything else in this accursed city. She hadn't even been able to see Sanji-kun then, hiding as he was on the opposite side of the street, and that had been the one moment of time during which she felt truly alone and abandoned in the whole world; the only human left in Oneirosa, on Asteria...hell, maybe in the Grand Line, in the world.

The Nightmares' steady traffic had eventually let up, however, and both Nami and Sanji-kun gratefully took the opportunity to leap from their hiding places and dart back down the street the way they'd come, hiding in a side-alley while catching their breath and their senses again.

"We can't go forward this way anymore," Nami panted softly under her breath. Her shivering had mostly stopped by now, but she still felt very cold, and it had nothing to do with the setting sun or the temperature in the city. Sanji-kun only nodded in agreement, his one visible eye shifting between watching her and the streets for more of the creatures.

"But we _have_ to still keep going forward," Nami said stubbornly, after a moment, trying to organize her thoughts. "We know the Nightmares live up ahead, but there's still dozens, maybe hundreds of buildings to choose from, and we still don't know where those Dreamshards are being kept."

"We could fight," Sanji-kun said, tapping one of his shoes on the ground, the way he always did before he unleashed an especially powerful attack. But his voice sounded doubtful, and there was a frown on his face.

Nami shook her head. "Not an option," she said firmly. "There's too many for you and me to fight on our own, even _with_ the _Sunny_ to help us. Even if we could, the things would be even more wary tomorrow, and we don't want to let them prepare at all." Sanji-kun said nothing, and she paced back and forth, trying to think.

It clicked for her suddenly. "The roofs," she said. "Sanji-kun, can you get us on the buildings?"

He looked immediately wary. "Probably," he said, still sounding doubtful, "But Nami-san, last time that happened the roof almost caved in on us. I don't think it's safe."

"We'll have to be careful," she said firmly, "But I think it's possible. We've seen Generals up there, right? They have to weigh more than we do." That was true. Although the majority of the Nightmares seemed to prefer traveling on the ground, on the streets, they _had_ seen one or two Generals leaping between the tops of buildings above them; they had been especially difficult to hide from. Nami did not like the thought of running into one of those up on the rooftops, but it was probably a safer way to travel than down on the streets. She suspected the Shepherds and Harvesters were either too heavy or too cumbersome to traverse the buildings, and she hadn't seen too many of the Generals up there, either.

Sanji-kun still looked concerned, but after a moment he nodded. "Okay," he said. "Just give me a second to scout it out, first." And before she could protest he'd already crouched deeply and leapt straight up, catching the edge of a low roof with one hand and clambering his way up, over, and out of her line of vision. Nami winced despite herself—although Sanji-kun would never, ever admit it, he was clearly on the edge of exhaustion by now. Normally he would have been able to make that leap without using his hands at all, or risk cutting them up on the rough, uneven stone. More than ever she was aware of how quickly they had to finish up this mission.

Sanji-kun was only gone for five minutes—she counted every second in her head—although it felt like far longer. Then he leapt down next to her, stumbling slightly, another testament to his wearing strength. "It looks safe," he said after a moment. "I didn't see any Nightmares up there, and there's a pretty decent route up to one of the taller buildings. Roofs seem pretty firm too. And you're not going to believe what I saw..."

He sounded surprised, maybe even awed, and Nami was intrigued despite herself. She let him pick her up to transport them up to the roofs again, and after several heart-stopping (but not nearly as fast as usual) near-vertical leaps he set her down again on a patch of relatively sturdy stone. They were on one of the taller buildings in Oneirosa now, one that had stayed surprisingly well intact despite the hundreds of years of aging and lack of upkeep.

"Look," Sanji-kun said, pointing north. The surprise was still in his voice. Nami turned to look in the direction he was pointing at—and gasped at what her eyes met.

There was a crystal spire rising from what looked like the dead center of the city. It was thick, at least three or four times the width of the _Sunny's_ main mast, and it towered over the other buildings clustered near it, like an adult among toddlers. The spire was set atop a wide dome, also made of crystal, which dove downward into a series of crystalline pillars and other, smaller domes that eventually vanished amongst the buildings.

It was a building as well, Nami realized after a moment of awed staring; not just a construct or statue made out of crystal, but a genuine _building,_ large enough to contain hundreds of people. And unlike the other, dilapidated shops and homes surrounding it, the crystalline construction bore no signs of disrepair. Its many domes and pillars stood strong and tall, glittering fiercely in the last rays of the sun, reflecting myriads of colors all around itself like a hundred thousand prisms that had been seamlessly melded together merely for the pleasure of the building's viewers. It was a stunningly beautiful sight, one Nami did not ever expect to see in the middle of this Nightmare-infested hell.

"It looks like a Dreamshard," Sanji-kun said next to her, still sounding just as shocked as she now felt. "Like somebody took a huge Dreamshard and just carved it up."

"You're right," Nami said, and frowned. Something about that sounded familiar...

"Dreams," she said suddenly. "Back in the first village we came to, Robin translated something about a Temple of Dreams. She mentioned it again when we were hiding in Remia. This must be it..._that_ is the Temple of Dreams."

"Brilliant, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said, although his voice still contained some measure of surprise at the fantastic sight. "But...Robin-chan also said the Nightmares _came_ from Oneirosa. The Temple is in the middle of the city, where the Nightmares seem to come from..."

He let it hang, but Nami had already come to the same conclusion. "They're tied to that Temple some how," she said, her voice grim. "I'm willing to bet Luffy's, Zoro's, and Robin's Dreamshards are in there, somewhere. And the Queen of the Night, too, whatever she is."

"Probably," Sanji-kun agreed, and he, too, looked grim. Suddenly, for all its beauty, the Temple of Dreams felt dark, concealing, as though the building itself was doing its level best to keep them from helping their friends. Already it was giving Nami the same crawling feeling in her stomach that she got whenever the Nightmares passed, and she felt deeply with every fiber of her being that she did _not_ want to get any closer to it than she already was. There was something evil in there, something so dangerous and cold and cruel that it had somehow contributed to the end of a civilization hundreds of years ago, and she wanted no part of it.

But if it was her Dreamshard in there, Luffy wouldn't stop. If it meant retrieving her dream for her, Luffy would punch furious holes in every single Nightmare and every crystal dome; Zoro would slice the pillars to dust, leave no hiding place unexposed; Robin would search every crack and crevice with her hundreds of hands for the little glimmer of hope that belonged to her nakama. Nami knew that without a shadow of a doubt, and knew without hesitation that even if her every instinct, her every fear, _screamed_ that she should not take a step closer, that she would do it anyway for them.

"Let's go," Nami said, gripping her Clima-Tact tightly for reassurance. "It's still a ways away, and we need to find the fastest way there for tomorrow, and see what we're up against."

"Of course, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun agreed immediately. "I won't let anything happen to you, Nami-san, but...be careful anyway."

"You don't have to tell _me_ that," she muttered under her breath, and set off for the roof edge, towards the closest nearby building. A quick glance allowed her to judge the distance, and, using the Clima-Tact as an improvised vaulting pole, she was able to launch herself across. Sanji-kun followed with a quick jump of his own.

It was a little easier to move over the rooftops after that, although traveling by building-top offered its own challenges. They didn't have to be quite as careful about the patrols in the streets, especially if they consisted of only Harvesters; the creatures couldn't look up, so as long as they didn't make any loud noises or cast shadows down onto the cobblestones they could leap from building to building whenever they chose. They did have to keep a lookout for Generals traveling by rooftop with them, but they were usually far away, and it was easy enough to crouch behind rooftop rubble to avoid detection on the rare occasion that one of the snake-armed creatures passed too close.

A more pressing concern was the stability of the rooftops. Most of them were decently sound, but one or two cracked alarmingly under their weights when they landed or walked. Twice Sanji-kun, who weighed more than she did, actually _did_ break through the stone surfaces. The first time it had only been one foot, but the second time he nearly crashed through to the room below with a barely-stifled curse, and only a quick leap had saved them both. They'd been afraid they had attracted the attention of the Nightmares then for sure, and spent a terrifying five minutes huddled two buildings over waiting for an attack. But nothing came for them, and they continued on more carefully after that.

The entire time Nami kept a close watch on the streets below, trying to memorize them as best as possible for an assault tomorrow. While the rooftops were certainly more linear, there was no way they'd be able to travel as a full group up here, especially when Zoro and Robin wouldn't be able to make the jumps on their own. And if _Sanji-kun_ was heavy enough to break through in some places, she was certain that mostly-metal Franky, or Chopper in some of his larger forms, wouldn't be supported at all up here. So she mapped out the city mentally from above, burning the images of the streets below her into her mind over and over as she leapt over them.

Until at last they were as close as Nami was sure they could possibly get, without being discovered. They were still some six blocks distant from the Temple of Dreams, which did not sit very well with her, but there was nothing else they could really do to get closer.

Because even at this distance, they could see the Temple grounds, buildings, and streets ahead were swarming with Nightmares of all kinds. Generals, Shepherds, Harvesters...the creatures consisted of one seething mass, walking over each other, barely noticing the others' presence, crawling up and down and over walls, floors, roofs, rubble. Any surface available was covered in the disgusting creatures, like a roiling anthill after a miniscule scrap of food was dropped on it. The only surface that remained pristine, uncluttered with the filthy mismatched creatures, was the Temple of Dreams. The creatures did not touch its crystal surfaces, although Nami was sure the building wasn't repelling them completely. She couldn't see any entranceways into the Temple from here—six blocks of broken city buildings still blocked her vision—but she was positive the creatures were able to get inside it as well.

They ducked down quickly behind the raised ridge of the building they were currently standing on, and Sanji-kun swore under his breath, muttering something about shitty spiders. He reached inside his suit jacket for a cigarette, hesitated, and then almost sullenly replaced it and the carton back inside his inner coat pocket.

"That's a lot of Nightmares," Nami said with a grimace. "I didn't realize there were so many...that's more than even the small _army_ that attacked us when we left Remia!"

Sanji-kun nodded grimly, and added, "I didn't see any of those Attendants, either. Wherever they are, these things obviously try to keep them protected. Those Dreamshards could still be anywhere."

Nami shook her head in frustration. "They're probably inside that Temple," she said after a moment, but that still didn't help matters any. The Temple of Dreams was enormous, large enough to rival a small palace, and even if they could get inside it finding three small Dreamshards would be all but impossible.

"You're right," Sanji-kun agreed. "The Temple is the most likely place to check. But we can't do anything else here, Nami-san. There's no way we can get closer without starting a fight, and it's dark now."

Nami looked up in surprise at the sky. Sanji-kun was right. There were still a few soft pink and orange lines off in the distance, the last hints of the sun, but for the most part night had fallen, casting a hazy dark blue color over her surroundings. How had the time gone so quickly?

But she suddenly realized how imperative it was that they get out of Oneirosa _now,_ and she nodded, acknowledging Sanji-kun's perfectly valid point. "Let's leave," she said, shivering slightly as she glanced around at the cold blue tones of the city. "We'll report what we found to the others, eat, sleep...and get ready for tomorrow."

The cook nodded, and they set off back over the rooftops, moving as fast as they could in the dark without risking the attention of the Nightmares or a broken neck. Nami followed the route she had traced one more time, committing each and every twist and turn to memory as she leapt over the streets. She could see Sanji-kun glancing below them with a look of concentration on his face, doing just the same. So much the better. If one of them were knocked out, or Heaven forbid had their Dreamshard stolen, the other would at least be able to guide.

It took a frightening hour to find their way back in the dark, even traveling by rooftop, and by then Sanji-kun wasn't even attempting to hide his fatigue anymore—an even more dangerous sign that they had to get out of there fast. For one terrifying moment, as they leapt down to the streets, Nami was afraid the Nightmares had somehow discovered their entry and had blocked off the crack they'd used to break in while she and Sanji-kun were exploring. Her eyes passed over it several times, and to her swimming, tired vision had difficulty acknowledging the tiny route. But eventually she found it and squeezed her way through carefully, Sanji-kun tossing her weapon after her and following just behind. Then they were running as fast as they could from the walls, darting between cover as they slipped away from the towering walls of Oneirosa to report what they had discovered—good _and_ bad.

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><p>Hahaha. They went north until they couldn't go north anymore, and then they went north by Zoro's definition. This was a very northward chapter. Except when they left. I guess that was south.<p>

~Velkynkarma


	14. Planning

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part fourteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"If you find yourself in a fair fight you didn't plan your mission properly!"<br>~Military Saying

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><p>Half an hour later, Nami and Sanji-kun finally managed to stumble their way to the tree-line where their temporary shelter was located. She couldn't see any traces of it in the dark, although she was sure she was at the right place. She was proven right moments later when a pale face seemed to drop out of the trees ahead of them and float towards them, dark eyes wide.<p>

Nami almost screamed for a moment before she realized the face was in fact Brook's; his pale white bones stood out alarmingly against the dark and his own black clothing and afro. Sanji-kun visibly relaxed beside her. Clearly he'd been caught by surprise, as well.

"Nami-san! Sanji-san!" Brook greeted with his usual energy, although he did make an effort to lower his voice. "It is _very_ good to see you back safe and sound! We were beginning to worry that the Nightmares had left you for dead in the city...and not in a good way like myself, yohohoho!"

Nami was too tired to even bother reprimanding Brook for the ill-placed skull joke. "Wasn't Usopp on guard when we left?"

"Of course he was, Nami-san, but it _has_ been nearly three and a half hours since you left," Brook said. "We decided to relieve him of watch since he was a part of your group and probably needed the rest more. Naturally I volunteered to take his place."

"Is everyone else inside?" Nami asked next, looking around for the reinforced shed. It was very difficult to see in the dark, even as close as it was.

"That is correct, Nami-san," the skeleton answered with a nod. "Might I suggest you retire as well? As I said before, you look—"

"Dead on my feet, I know," she answered with a scowl. Brook _yohoho'd_ with a little more volume than she would have liked in response, and she said, "But you have a point, we are _really_ tired." The evidence being that Sanji-kun hadn't even _tried_ to kick Brook for his stupid skull jokes, and was just standing obediently behind Nami, wavering a little on his feet. She wasn't really surprised. The day had been especially rough on their cook; no sleep, two fights, losing and recovering his Dreamshard, and finally an exhausting full-day trek finished up with a very difficult reconnaissance mission in an infested Nightmare city. It was only thanks to the infamous levels of stamina the Straw Hat crew's three powerhouses possessed that he was still standing at all, most likely.

Brook nodded and retreated back to his tree, climbing back into its branches easily thanks to his long limbs, and within seconds he was all but invisible again as he kept watch. Nami and Sanji-kun made their tired way to the shed and cracked open the door slowly before stumbling inside.

Franky greeted them with an outstretched arm, his hand folded back to make a scope as he aimed his built-in cannon straight at them. Nami froze in surprise, and Sanji-kun leapt forward in front of her, hissing angrily, "What the hell do you think you're doing, aiming at a lady like that, you shitty tin can, huh?"

Franky blinked and almost immediately retracted his arm, folding his hand back into place automatically. "Sorry, Curly-Cook," he said with a shrug. "Can't be too careful on this island, y'know?"

Sanji-kun was still bristling, and Nami pushed him forward hastily so she could shut the door. The inside of the shed was lit up brightly with several of Usopp's and Franky's collapsible lanterns, and she didn't want to light up their position to outside watchers. She was surprised enough as it was that they hadn't even known there _were_ lights on from the outside. "How did you conceal the lanterns, Franky?"

He grinned at her. "I fixed up some blackout curtains with a little help from Usopp. We found all the holes in the shed and patched them up too. Feels a little more comfortable with the lights, right?"

Nami had to nod in agreement, watching the shadows flicker as the flames in the lanterns danced back and forth. It wasn't much, but even a few measly flames made the whole shed seem much warmer and safer, calmed her crawling, anxious nerves a fraction.

It also lit up their surroundings enough for her to look around. She could see their packs stowed carefully in the far corner, with the food pack most prominently in front. Usopp was sleeping curled up not too far from the bags, resting his head on his own bag of artillery, and Chopper slept snuggled up next to him, probably for comfort more than warmth—the shed felt fine to her, anyway. Closer to the center of the shed their three dreamless nakama were laid out; all three looked extremely pale, and reminded Nami of corpses more than people. She shivered.

Sanji-kun was glancing around as well, and seemed to have noticed the food bag. "You guys eat after all?" he asked, eyeing the food stores critically—probably trying to estimate how much was left.

"A little," Franky said with a shrug. "Not much, we didn't want to start a fire for cooking in case the food scents attracted Nightmares."

Sanji-kun nodded in agreement, then gestured to the three dreamless nakama in the center of the room. "What about them...and don't you dare tell me you let Robin-chan go without dinner," he said with a scowl.

Franky held up his hands placatingly. "Woah there, Curly-Cook, calm down a little! We tried to get'em to eat, all three of them, _including_ Robin. It didn't exactly work so well. None of them really wanted to eat. I guess not having a Dreamshard kills off your appetite pretty quick."

Nami frowned. "I guess that makes sense in a way...the stories back on Asteria _did_ talk about the victims they found eventually wasting away for various reasons."

Sanji-kun's expression was dark. "_Nobody_ ate?" he asked, very seriously.

"I didn't say that," Franky said, looking surprised at Sanji-kun's response. "We got Zoro and Robin to eat a little, although that was mostly only because Chopper practically begged them to do it. Luffy though...he was still real out of it. You could drape a first-class _super_ steak across his face right now and he wouldn't budge a muscle." The genuine concern in his voice was all too clear by the end, and put into perspective just how badly off their captain was right now. Luffy would never pass up a meal for anything—not even being unconscious for days after a fight could do that.

Sanji-kun was clearly not happy with this new bit of news as well, but it only made him look more determined, and Nami could understand why. The sooner they beat the Nightmares and retrieved those Dreamshards, the sooner everyone would be back to normal and they could leave this whole mess behind.

But that wouldn't be until tomorrow, and for now Sanji-kun seemed to have other plans in mind. Striding over to the food pack, he said casually, "That's only because none of you can cook for shit. Wake'em up, and I'll make something for my darling Robin-chan...and the others too, I guess—"

"Won't work, Curly-Cook," Franky said with a sigh. "They're out for good. Right around the time dark hit, they just..._dropped_. All three of'em, at the exact same time. Robin was sitting up and she just fell right back. Sword-bro—um, I mean, _Zoro_—he was standing at the time, and he went down like somebody whacked him in the head, we had to drag him back over. And Straw Hat...well, his eyes've been open pretty much all day, but they closed when the dark came." The cyborg shook his head tiredly. "Haven't been able to wake any of'em up since. And they're dead silent unless the captain starts ranting...for some reason it starts them all up."

Nami paled slightly at that, and glanced down at Luffy, Zoro and Robin with concern. Now that Franky mentioned it, Luffy's and Zoro's snores were conspicuously absent once again. And Nami knew from experience that Robin was a _very_ light sleeper, but the woman looked so heavily asleep now it was unnatural. It reminded her all too strongly of the first night they were here, with the anxiety of not understanding what was wrong with their captain. Or last night, when Zoro's unnatural chanting had nearly exposed them to the hungry Nightmares above. And now that they knew the cause of it—knew exactly what was stolen, and why it pained their nakama so badly—the situation was all the more dark and _wrong_ than before.

Sanji-kun grit his teeth at the cyborg's announcement, and withdrew one of his cigarettes, lighting up with sharp, jerky movements. He breathed deep, exhaled a cloud of smoke with a tired sigh, and seemed slightly more in control seconds later when he said, "Okay, then. We'll try them tomorrow at breakfast. Nami-san, you must be hungry, allow me to make you something worthy and delicious after all your hard work today!"

"Only if it's quick, Sanji-kun," she said, voice flat. "I am not staying up any longer than I have to." And she looked over longingly at their packs, where she knew at least _one_ blanket was left that wasn't being used for Luffy, Zoro or Robin.

"Of course, Nami-san!" Sanji said immediately. "I'll have it ready in but a moment, I wouldn't dare interfere with Nami-san's beauty sleep!"

"Whatever," she answered with a yawn, and let the cook get to it while trying her best to not look at any of her dreamless nakama.

"So, did you find anything useful, girlie?" Franky asked after a few moments, clearly trying to break up the uncomfortable silence.

"Some. We've got a route and we know what we're up against now," Nami said with another yawn. "I'll explain more tomorrow...too tired to do it tonight. Whoever's on the last watch, make sure they wake us up before dawn, so we have enough time to explain and get ready and can use all the daylight to our advantage."

"You got it, sis," Franky answered with a nod. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll have a _super_ plan to break in there tomorrow and get those Dreamshards back."

The mention of the gems seemed to be just the trigger needed to set Luffy off. The captain gave a soft moan of what sounded very much like _pain,_ and began to rasp softly, "Lost...c-can't f-find it...t-taken...lost...can't f-find it...stolen...stolen...stole it, they stole it, they stole it..." Over and over, just like before, only how there was a real edge of desperation in his voice that Nami was sure hadn't been there two days ago when he'd first been hit. Luffy was getting worse...there was no denying that.

And just as Franky had said, although Zoro and Robin had remained unresponsive to any other outside triggers, refusing to wake no matter how much they were poked, prodded, shaken, or yelled at, it seemed Luffy's voice alone could break through that otherwise perfect shell. When his desperate cries began, Zoro and Robin almost immediately joined him, ranting with regularly increasing volume about how their dreams, too, couldn't be found, were lost to them...were _stolen_. Neither of them had quite the same edge of desperation, of pleading, that Luffy's voice had just yet, but Nami was sure it was only a matter of time. Even without it, the sight was one of the eeriest things Nami had ever seen in her life.

"Nami-san," Sanji-kun said, and she snapped out of a daze she hadn't realized she'd even been in, wrenched her gaze away from Luffy and the others. Sanji-kun was standing right in front of her, holding out a cloth napkin with a large sandwich balanced carefully atop it in one hand, and one of their canteens with water in the other. "For you," he added, and she took the two items hastily, trying very hard to not listen to the dreamless pleading of her nakama.

Sanji-kun walked away from her again to retrieve his own food and pack up the food bag again, and Nami looked down at her late dinner. Even without the ability to cook anything, and limited to whatever was transportable in food packs and the small cooler Franky had brought, Sanji-kun's ability to deliver a fantastic meal was still extraordinary. The sandwich looked delectable and smelled heavenly, and Nami realized when her stomach rumbled angrily just how famished she really was. She dug into the meal with gusto, and when Sanji-kun came over and sat next to her moments later with his own sandwich he looked absurdly pleased, like he always did whenever he managed to get anybody to eat anything.

Nami polished off the remains of the sandwich quickly, and though it was entirely unladylike, licked the crumbs from her fingers as well. By the time she was completely finished, Luffy's ranting had finally slowed, quieted, and eventually trailed off, and without him to encourage the others Zoro and Robin eventually fell silent as well. The navigator decided she _definitely_ wanted to be asleep before they started up with their creepy chanting again, so she returned the cloth napkin and canteen to the food pack, retrieved the last of the blankets, and staked out a patch of dirt in the shed for herself. Sanji-kun enthusiastically offered to keep her company. She vehemently refused, but_ did_ accept his offer of his suit-jacket to use as a pillow; no sense in dirtying up her hair and face if it wasn't needed.

"Remember...up before dawn," she said sleepily, as she wrapped herself in the blanket.

"I remember, Girlie," Franky said. "Get some sleep. You too, Curly-Cook. You guys need it."

"Yeah," she murmured softly, settling her head down. Sanji-kun's jacket was soft and warm, and smelled comfortingly of the cigarettes that she still associated with Bellemere more than him. The warm glow of the lanterns made her feel irrationally safe, and with all the crew together again—even if some were in less than perfect shape—the night felt somehow so much more different than the previous one. The combination of the illusion and her own exhaustion made it much easier to ignore her fears, and sink deeper than her nightmares, and she was asleep not long after her head touched her improvised pillow.

Whatever happened tomorrow, they would be ready for it.

* * *

><p>Nami came back into awareness hours later, when a timid Chopper shook her carefully by the shoulders. She blinked sleepily as she woke, and the little reindeer said quickly, "Sorry to wake you up, Nami, but it's about an hour before sunrise, and Franky said we needed to get up to plan then—"<p>

"It's fine, Chopper," she said with a heavy yawn, and pushed herself slowly into a sit, drawing the blanket a little further around herself. It was chillier than she remembered, in the early hours of the morning. "I told Franky that myself. "

"Oh!" the doctor said. "Alright, then. Did you sleep well?" He studied her carefully, and she could tell the question was clearly more clinical in nature.

"Yes, surprisingly," she answered, and it was true. She'd slept like a rock since the moment she'd lain down, never waking up once. And although she could still feel a cold, tight grip around her heart, the wispy remains of unsettling and uncomfortable dreams that had come in the night, she couldn't remember dreaming about any nightmares—or nightmarish memories. It definitely wasn't the most restful sleep she'd ever had, but she definitely felt ready for the big fight today.

Chopper studied her for a moment more, apparently trying to discern if she was hiding the truth or not, but then nodded in acceptance. "Okay. In that case I should go wake the others up," he said, and scrambled off in the direction of what sounded like a small thundercloud curled up in the corner, but which actually turned out to be Franky when Nami turned to take a look.

She shook her head in exasperation and tiredly looked around the rest of the shed. Not much had changed, other than the fact that Brook was now stretched out to nearly full length over next to Usopp, head carefully pillowed on a bag to protect his afro as he slept. Sanji-kun was already up, rifling through the food pack again and muttering under his breath around the cigarette in his mouth as he started preparing breakfast. With the world outside cut off by the blackout curtains, and the still cheerfully flickering lanterns, Nami almost would have thought it was one of their camping or exploration trips on the deserted islands they'd found before on the Grand Line. Almost, but for the fact that Luffy, Zoro and Robin were still laid out in the center of the shed, silent as the grave, and not a one of them looked like they'd moved an inch since she'd seen them last night.

Nami's face fell at the sight of them, and she hastily looked away. They would have their nakama back in _full_ today, come hell or high water. They were _not_ leaving without those Dreamshards, not even if they had to tear the entire Temple of Dreams apart to find them. Then the three of them would have their goals back, and...damn it all, by this rate Nami would barely be able to keep herself from giving Luffy an enormous hug the next time he declared he'd be King of the Pirates at exactly the wrong moment, just because it would be so _good_ to hear that unhesitating confidence again.

But for now there wasn't much that they could do for the three, other than leave them be. If Zoro's actions yesterday were anything to judge by, then the three of them wouldn't even wake up—if one could call it that in Luffy's case—until the sun had risen enough. Nami had seen enough by now to realize the dreamless state was heavily affected by the sun, or lack thereof in the present case.

So she gave Luffy one last glance and dragged herself tiredly to her feet. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders for now, she stooped to retrieve Sanji-kun's folded jacket and, brushing it off, walked over to return it.

"Nami-san! Good morning, my heavenly flower, did you sleep well?" Sanji-kun greeted enthusiastically at her approach. "I'll have breakfast for you in just a bit, never fear!"

"Fine," Nami answered. "Here, thanks for this, it was quite comfortable."

She handed over the jacket, and he accepted it gleefully, clearly pleased that he was able to add to her level of comfort in any way. "I live to serve, Nami-san," he said, as he swept the jacket back on and expertly buttoned, straightened, and smoothed the fabric until he looked presentable again. Considering he'd been through a number of fights, taken more than one beating, and had been slammed into the ground several times, Nami privately had to admit that he was covered in shockingly less dirt and fewer tears than she would have expected.

But it would never do to tell him that and boost his ego even further, so she said instead, "When everyone is awake we'll discuss what we found last night and make an attack plan."

"Of course, Nami-san!" the cook answered, but he sounded more serious than before. "I thought a bit on it myself last night when I was falling asleep."

"Good," she said grimly. "We'll need all the ideas we can get." He nodded in agreement, face dark, and she knew he was remembering the Temple of Dreams and its swarm of unnatural guardians, because she was herself.

Half an hour later, everyone was awake and preparing for today's assault on Oneirosa city. They packed up the blankets, lanterns, and other supplies, leaving only the blankets their three dreamless nakama were laid out on for their comfort (not that they could really recognize it in their present states). The_ Sunny_-based defenses set up all around the shed were left in place for now, although it was unanimously agreed that they would be stripped down before leaving to attack, to be used as additional weapons or tools somehow in the assault. Franky _did_ remove the blackout curtains, however, hollowing out a small space in the shed's old walls for them to keep watch through while meeting. The curtains he packed in one of their bags, which would remain in the shed; survival supplies would be of little use where they were heading, and the extra weight would only bog them down.

Weapons were checked, Chopper counted his medical supplies no less than six times, and Franky once again made sure everyone's _Sunny_-based 'upgrades' (as he called them) were in good condition and ready for the upcoming fight. By then Sanji-kun's breakfast was prepared, and the remainder of the crew sat in a circle near their dreamless members, while Usopp, with the sharpest eyes, ate standing and watched the world outside through the cracks Franky had made.

And while they ate, they planned. Nami and Sanji-kun reported everything they'd seen, from the twisting, confusing streets to the heavy opposing numbers and the beautiful, but clearly dangerous, Temple of Dreams. The others looked more than a little stunned when Nami described the sheer quantity of Nightmares they would be facing, and Nami wasn't surprised. It sounded like one of Usopp's over-exaggerated tales to her, too, and only the fact that she had seen it first-hand made her believe it.

The crew did not look very confident about their chances, and more than once they glanced over at Luffy and the others. "If Luffy was with us..." Usopp muttered out loud, knees knocking as he shivered in place. "Maybe then..."

He didn't have to finish his sentence; Nami understood. If Luffy was with them, perfectly healthy, dream intact, even _that_ vast quantity of Nightmares would seem impossibly easy to beat. Luffy had a knack for making the impossible happen, and time and time again had done things, defeated people, changed lives, that everyone insisted couldn't be done, defeated or changed. Their captain would probably laugh at their perfectly logical, cautious attempts at planning, plow straight through the hordes of unnatural creatures without hesitation, and inquire as to when lunch was immediately after. Or maybe even during. His appetite _was_ atrocious.

"But he isn't here," Nami said flatly, voicing her thoughts. "And if we don't try to make it through this, he won't ever be again. The others, too."

"It would certainly be most cruel to leave them as they are now," Brook said with a nod. "Even crueler if we never once tried, I think. Luffy-san was perfectly willing to try to help me regain my shadow, no matter how much I warned him to the contrary. I feel I owe him at least the attempt to recover his dream."

"Skelly's got the right idea," Franky said decisively. "And it's not like we're not prepared. We've got the _Thousand Sunny_ with us, too. We can do this." Emboldened, the more timid Chopper and Usopp nodded, and even Sanji-kun—who had seen the opposing numbers with his own eyes—smirked a little.

"I think we _can_ do it," Nami agreed, sounding more confident than she felt, "But it'll be tricky, and we'll have to be careful. Now listen up. We'll have to go in by the font gate, which is already pretty well guarded, and no matter how well we hide they'll see us long before we get there. There's just no way we'll be able to get everybody through the crack me and Sanji-kun used last night. So right away we're going to have to blast our way through just to force our way into the city.

_"But,"_ she continued, raising a triumphant finger and grinning around at the others, "once we're in, things'll get a little easier. The streets are very winding and confusing, but I mostly figured out the route last night, so we'll be able to head as straight as Oneirosa allows for the Temple of Dreams. And even better, the route I worked out has as many narrow streets as I could possibly find along the way. That means the Nightmares will have a tough time squeezing themselves in at us, and they won't be able to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. That's our first advantage."

"Won't they jump down at us from above?" Chopper asked with a frown.

"Maybe a few, if they try to crawl up the walls—the Harvesters can do that, like normal spiders," Nami said, with a shudder. "It'll be up to Usopp to take care of those, since he's the only one of us who can use a dream weapon at range." The sniper shuddered, but then took a deep breath and nodded determinedly. "But for the most part, they won't be able to, Chopper. Only the Generals seem able to travel on the city rooftops...I think the others are too heavy to manage it. As long as we keep an eye open, we should be fine."

"Right. Okay!" Chopper said, clenching his little hooves with determination.

"This route will also let us conserve our strength," Nami continued, "Which will be our next advantage. Since we'll have the narrow streets to keep us from getting overwhelmed, that means we can use smaller, more precise attacks to keep pushing forward. So remember to save all of your strength and your _big_ attacks for when we get to the Temple of Dreams, and the big swarms." She glanced around the room at all of them, but in particular at Sanji-kun and Chopper, both of whom she knew had powerful short-duration attacks.

"I understand, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said with a nod, and Chopper nodded again as well, patting the small pocket where he kept his Rumble Balls.

"We'll still have to bring Luffy, Zoro and Robin with us," Nami went on, "and that'll definitely be our biggest weakness when we force our way into the city. Remember, the Nightmares will want to kidnap them to take them to their Queen of the Night, so we have to make sure they stay safe." Leaning forward over her breakfast, she sketched in the dirt with one finger, making quick 'x' marks for each member of the crew. "I have a few different arrangements in mind, but basically, it's important that we keep them surrounded by us at all times. If they're exposed to the Nightmares at all, there's a very high chance we'll lose them."

"We ain't gonna let that happen, Girlie," Franky said with confidence. "I can still carry Luffy on my back in his _Sunny_-sling, they'll never get at him that way."

"Right," Nami agreed. "I think that'd be best, since you could still fight while carrying him yesterday. Zoro and Robin are going to be more tricky. Just in case something happens, I think it's important that both of them have one of us assigned to protecting them until we can get them back to the safety of the group. Volunteers?"

"I would make an _excellent_ guard for beautiful Robin-chan!" Sanji-kun predictably said, almost immediately.

But Nami shook her head. "No no, Sanji-kun," she said firmly. "We can't have that. You _are_ our strongest fighter right now, with Luffy down—" (she very carefully avoided mentioning Zoro) "—and we'll need your strength elsewhere in the battle. You wouldn't leave us—_me_—up against hordes of Nightmares without backup, would you?"

Sanji-kun looked both flattered and delighted by her carefully-worded veto instead of upset that he couldn't guard Robin, and said enthusiastically, "I'll flatten every single one of those shitty spiders that comes your way, Nami-san, I promise! And towards you guys, too, I guess," he added to the others, almost as an after thought.

"I can watch Robin," Usopp offered instead. "I am the Great Captain Usopp after all! Uh, and she's easier to carry than Zoro, he's kinda heavy..."

"That works," Nami said, after a moment's consideration. "You can still help out at range too with your slingshot, even if we are separated for a bit."

"I can watch Zoro," Chopper volunteered. "He's not so hard for me to carry when I'm in Walk Point _or_ Heavy Point. And I can probably keep him from trying to join the fight too," he added with a look that seemed to be half exasperation, half hero worship.

"Good," Nami said, and was grateful for a brief moment that Zoro still wasn't conscious yet to argue the point. "That's all three of them. Everyone keep an eye on them just in case, but if something happens, you know who to protect, so try to stay near them."

"You got it, Nami!"

"I'll make sure nothing gets Zoro, I promise!"

"This'll be easy, no problem, sis. I've been feeling especially protective this week, anyway."

Nami nodded. They were all so determined; hopefully it would be enough. "Brook," she said next, "You should try to stay in the middle with the others as well, if you can. Your music stuns the Nightmares, and that's another advantage we can't afford to give up, so you need to stay safe as well. Plus, if you're in the middle, your music will carry all around us and affect the Nightmares behind us as well as in front."

The skeleton swept to his feet with surprising grace and made a low, old fashioned bow in acknowledgement before declaring, "I will give the performance of a lifetime! Ah...even though I am already dead! _Yohohoho!_"

"Right," Nami said with a roll of her eyes, although she had to admit that Brook's jovial tone and oddball humor was uplifting for once. "I'll be towards the front, directing our movements. Make sure you keep pace with me, because we need to move fast, and keep the Nightmares off me if you can so I can focus." Not to mention, she didn't want the ugly things—especially the spider-like Harvesters—anywhere near her if she could avoid it. "The last six blocks will be the trickiest, because they'll be heavily infested with Nightmares, and I didn't have a chance to map that part out. We couldn't get close enough last night without being spotted. I think I understand how the city works, but we'll just have to do our best and hope we don't hit any dead ends."

Usopp audibly gulped at that, but nobody said anything, and Nami finally finished with, "Once we reach the Temple of Dreams, it'll probably be open ground. Just bull through, don't stop for anything, and keep Luffy, Zoro and Robin safe. If we push fast enough we should probably be able to make it to the Temple, and from there..." she shrugged. "I don't know. The Dreamshards have to be in there..."

"...But the Queen of the Night is probably also there, too, whatever she is," Sanji-kun added, when she trailed off. "And likely a lot more Nightmares, as well."

"Can we beat something like that?" Chopper asked nervously.

"With luck, we won't have to find out," Nami said firmly. "Don't forget, everyone...this attack isn't about cleaning up the island, or beating the Queen of the Night. This is about getting Luffy's, Zoro's, and Robin's Dreamshards back. That is our _first_ priority, above all else!" Leaning forward, she sketched an Attendant roughly in the dirt with her finger next to the diagrams, and explained, "These creatures are what we're looking for. There are only three of them, according to the writings Robin translated. Look at the baskets. If they're glowing, there's a Dreamshard in there...get it at all costs! If you can, distract it for me and I'll steal them back. I already know what to expect and I have a better chance of getting them than you guys do, since I have more..._practice_ at it. But if you think you've got a chance to destroy it and get them yourself, don't wait for me, just grab them and be prepared for a shock when you do. Attendants don't fight well, so there might be a chance to just steal them and run."

"If we can replace any Dreamshards we find back in Luffy-san, Zoro-san and Robin-san, our chances of escaping or even winning may rise, as well," Brook observed. "Adding any of them to the fight would be a great advantage."

"Not much of one," Sanji-kun warned. "All three of them will be dazed when they get their Dreamshards back. They might not be able to fight well right away. Or even at all—they've been dreamless much longer than I was."

"Anything is better than nothing," Nami countered. "Even if we don't have to babysit them anymore and can focus more on the fight, that's a plus. And the faster we return their Dreamshards to them, the faster we can get out of there, before the Nightmares have a chance to overwhelm us completely."

The navigator took a deep breath, and concluded, "That's it. Anything else? Any questions?" As one the boys silently shook their heads, and she nodded, glancing out their improvised 'window' that Usopp was guarding. The sun was just beginning to rise, creating pink and orange wisps over the tops of the red-gold trees that she had admired so much when they first arrived. "Good. We'll give the sun a chance to get a little higher, to give us the maximum advantage possible...and for these three to wake up," she added with a sigh. "Then we're out of here, and we're not coming back until we've got _all_ of our nakama again!"

They cheered determinedly, the most dangerous and ferocious group of pirates Nami had ever known, much less associated herself with, and the navigator wished she could be half as confident about the plan as they looked.

* * *

><p>Here we go guys...from here on out, <em>asses will be kicked.<em>

~VelkynKarma


	15. Counterattack

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part fifteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** This chapter is ridiculously long. Don't read it if you have better things to do with your time. :P

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

><p>"Storm the gates, raise the flags<br>Seize the throne, subjugate  
>Some might say we've lost our way<br>But I believe we've not gone far enough."  
>~"A Gentleman's Coup," Rise Against<p>

* * *

><p>The Straw Hat Pirates charged towards Oneirosa city, weapons at the ready, fury on their faces. The Southern Gates of the ancient, crumbling wreck of a city towered over them, looming and oppressive, unknowing and uncaring of their mission. And covering every possible surface of the roads, inside of the gates, gatehouses, and even portions of the city wall itself, were the Nightmares. The Harvesters perched like fat, hungry spiders everywhere their eight mismatched clicking legs could find purchase, tapping mandibles together and hissing delightedly at the meal that had decided to come to them. And on the old cobblestones of the city's interior, a dozen Shepherds and a pair of Generals waited as well, watching hatefully with far too many sets of eyes as they approached.<p>

Sanji-kun snorted in disgust. "They don't even know how to properly greet their guests. Shitty Nightmares." He was running at the front of the pirate crew, easily keeping up a loping but still fast pace as he charged towards the dozens of aberrations in front of them.

"That's too bad," Nami said lightly. They were still many yards from the Gates themselves, and the creatures waiting patiently for them, but that hardly mattered to some of their number. "Usopp, why don't you show them how it's actually done?"

Usopp nodded at the signal, and even though he was obviously terrified, charging at so many murderous, dangerous creatures, he grinned widely; that was an order he knew he could follow. Nami allowed him to pass the job of supporting Robin to her temporarily—the archaeologist was awake, but having trouble keeping up with the crew due to her dreamless state, and required assistance. Then he whipped his Kabuto from his back, stuffed his hand into his bag, and pulled free a handful of glinting bits of metal.

_"Multiple Dream Stars!"_ he yelled. The nails from the _Sunny_ arced overhead, racing with unerring accuracy for the heads of the closest Nightmares, sitting smugly inside the gate. The Harvesters and Shepherds did not even bother to try and dodge, probably considering themselves immune, until it was too late; then the dream-weapons ripped into them with surprising fury. Harvesters and Shepherds screamed and howled as the painful attack of Franky's _Thousand Sunny_ dream tore them apart, and they burst into oily flames, thinning the ranks ahead by a tiny fraction. The Generals ahead narrowed their three sets of eyes at the Strawhats and emitted their rumbling hisses, already splitting up and screeching frantically to their followers.

Usopp fired a second time, this time aiming for some of the creatures on the walls. These Harvesters did try to dodge, now understanding the painful accuracy of the Straw Hat sniper, but it was still too late for them: even if Usopp's aim wasn't already impeccable, the Nightmares presented enormous targets that would be difficult to miss at this range. The Harvesters dropped from the walls with more shrieks, burning to a crisp before they'd even hit the ground.

Usopp fired a third time, aiming at the walls as before. With the resulting chaos he was causing none of the Harvesters or Shepherds even seemed to realize that the Straw Hats were drawing still closer, charging without stopping at the gates. They were almost within range of the entrance now, close enough that the rest of them would soon be able to add their own abilities to the assault.

The Generals were cleverer than Nami liked to admit, however, and while the Shepherds and Harvesters clearly fell for the distraction, the snake-arm creatures did not. They darted back and forth just behind their servants, rumbling and hissing without breath, slapping and punching Shepherds and Harvesters alike as they gave what were unmistakably orders, and Nami felt their red, reptilian eyes on her and the rest of her nakama more than once.

Then the Shepherds acted. Despite their clear confusion, they were disciplined enough to obey orders, and as Nami watched each one raised their jackal-like faces and uttered a single, booming bark that she recognized all too well from two nights ago. The Harvesters around them, dozens of the spider-cat creatures, raised their heads almost immediately, waved their tails, and opened their jaws wide.

"Now, Brook!" Nami ordered sharply. "Now, before they start!"

"At once!" Brook said immediately, and _yohoho_ing wildly—the musician was clearly _insane_—he raised his violin and began playing something fast and lively. Crazy as he was, Nami had to give him credit where it was due: the fact that he could still flawlessly play a violin while charging forward into what was probably a suicide mission _was_ pretty praiseworthy.

The terror-call of dozens of Harvesters blasted straight into them, and for the barest of seconds Nami felt the chill of fear, the sharp spike of anxiety and terror as it drove into her heart like an icy stake. But a second later Brook's fast-paced violin countered it, sent a thawing warmth through her heart, mind and body, and she was able to push forward with renewed determination. The others around her did the same, barely faltering as they pushed ever forward...but there were a few unexpected hitches. Robin gasped sharply beside her, and staggered slightly as they ran—Nami was barely able to secure the not-archaeologist's arm around her shoulders before she went down completely. And from a short ways behind her she heard Zoro groan and stumble, and Chopper yelp in alarm.

That was new. Apparently the terror-call of the Harvesters was more potent if one lacked their dream. She would have to keep an eye out for that in the future...assuming there was one, anyway.

But the majority of the Harvesters' attack had been useless, and Brook's musical shield against the scream of fear had also become their counterattack. The Harvesters went rigid as the first of the sharp, cheerful notes hit them, and trembled with the visible effort of trying to move. The Shepherds were able to resist a little, but still looked like they were trying to walk through quicksand, their movements dulled and sluggish. And even the Generals, though still able to move, looked agitated at the noise, and clawed at what was presumably their ears with several pairs of hands, screeching angrily.

And in that moment of inaction the Straw Hat Pirates descended on them, screaming with no-holds-barred fury as they attacked the gates of the Nightmare-nest of Oneirosa.

Sanji-kun hit the wall of Harvesters first with a wordless roar. He spun quickly, releasing a sharp pair of kicks that, enhanced with the sailcloth tied to his dress shoes, caused two of the music-stunned spider-cat creatures to explode into flames and oily smoke almost upon impact. Without a moment's pause, the cook leapt onto the back of a third creature behind where the first two had been—even standing on the creature caused the Nightmare to emit thick, foul-smelling smoke from its contact with Franky's dream—and used it as a vaulting board to leap into the air above the rest of the Nightmares. Spinning quickly, Sanji-kun built up a furious momentum until, with a roar of _"Concassé!"_ he rocketed down from the air and brought his heel smashing into the closer of the two Generals. The creature screamed in surprise and thrashed wildly, but Sanji-kun's move, when enhanced with a strong dream, was too powerful for even the enduring master Nightmare to bear. It, too, dissolved into oily smoke, leaving behind an overwhelmingly putrid scent of charred meat.

The rest of the Nightmares looked surprised—those that could move, anyway—and the second General turned on its many hands to run, or perhaps call for help. Sanji-kun gave chase, and the rest of the Straw Hats plowed into the stunned wall of Nightmares with _Sunny-_based weapons bared. Franky, with his large size and equally large weapon, and Usopp, who still had the advantage of range, were targeting the much more dangerous Shepherds first. As long as Brook's music wasn't interrupted, he could keep the Harvesters stunned indefinitely, while the Shepherds would pose much more of a threat to the weaker members of the crew, especially Zoro and Robin. But Franky and Usopp were able to dispose of them with only a little bit of difficulty—it took a few extra whacks of Franky's Adam-wood planks, and two or three of Usopp's nail-shots instead of the one it required to down a Harvester. But the more Shepherds that were eradicated, the better their chances would be later.

And while they took care of the more dangerous Shepherds, Nami and Chopper—remaining behind for the moment to provide a last defense for Brook, Zoro and Robin—proceeded to smash up as many of the Harvesters as they could. Stunned as they were, the creatures were unable to defend themselves or even run away, and all it took was one powerful smack to the head with Nami's cord-wrapped Clima-Tact, or Chopper's smaller Adam Wood plank, to finish them off. Nami would have preferred to not waste time with the creatures, personally, but the Harvesters formed a veritable wall that needed to be cleared away before the Straw Hats could break into the city. And anyway, the more of the creatures they destroyed now, the less of them would be attacking them from behind, later.

"Gimme something to fight with," Zoro growled to her right, and after smashing in another Harvester head and leaping away from the burst of flames Nami glanced over at him. The not-swordsman was, unbelievably, attempting to pull himself to his feet and push forward to fight, dangerously close to the nearest stunned Harvester.

"What are you doing!" She shrieked, and dragged him back hastily by the collar, a feat still made difficult by his sizable weight even if he was considerably weaker than usual. "Don't be stupid, Zoro—you can't fight, you can't even touch any of the dream weapons or they'll burn you!"

Zoro winced at the mention of dreams, but looked positively sullen when she met his gaze. "This isn't fair," he scowled at her, sounding once again petulant in a way that, in any other situation, would have had Nami busting a gut laughing. "Curly-brow gets to fight, why can't I?"

"Because Sanji-kun can actually touch the dream weaponry without hurting himself," Nami said in exasperation.

"He doesn't use weapons at all, just like me," Zoro said, still remarkably sullen, and Nami inwardly winced at how utterly incapable their not-swordsman still was of acknowledging his own dream and abilities. "Jackass...feh, speak of the damned devil now..." He wavered on his feet, clearly getting close to another passing-out fit, but his gaze held remarkably steady as he looked ahead.

Nami looked through the gates as well, and spotted Sanji-kun leaping over and through the crowds of Nightmares again, looking furious. She saw him vent his anger with a well-placed _Mouton__ Shot _to a nearby Shepherd, which dissolved into flames instantly. Then he shouted over the crowd to the crew, "Shitty General got away. Couldn't follow it too far without getting separated. We need to hurry, reinforcements are definitely coming now."

Nami cursed under her breath, but couldn't really blame Sanji-kun. The Generals were called as such for a reason, and were clearly more intelligent than they had even first guessed. "Then let's clear these things out fast," she shouted back, and the others yelled back in agreement. With Sanji-kun's additional help alongside Usopp's and Franky's own attacks, the Shepherds were cleared out at much more rapid-fire pace, and with Nami and Chopper smashing up the Harvesters as fast as they possibly could the entrance to Oneirosa began to clear up enough that they could force their way forward.

"Move, guys!" Nami yelled over the panicked hissing of the Harvesters, and the frantic fast-paced wail of Brook's violin. "Hurry, before more come!"

The rest of them knew the plan, and moved quickly to get into position. Sanji-kun and Franky took the lead, forming an arrowhead of powerful offensive maneuvers and sheer stability that would let them carve a path through the crowds of Nightmares for their nakama behind them. Brook leapt forward to follow directly behind them, keeping his music within earshot to defend them from the terror-call and stun the weaker Nightmares. Chopper ducked back to them quickly, slinging his Adam Wood plank over one shoulder as he bent to snatch Zoro up under his other arm. The doctor was careful not to let the not-swordsman's skin touch the three katana bound across his furry back—they had decided to bring Zoro's swords with them, under the assumption that he could still be of assistance when his Dreamshard was returned, if he could be armed. Chopper was just in time, as Zoro wobbled abruptly and passed out from the growing strength of his dreamless state. Nami grimaced at that; like Luffy, Zoro was starting to get worse too.

Usopp darted back to them as well to recover the pirate that had been assigned to him, and Nami moved to help Robin to her feet to speed up their charge. But Robin went stiff, and abruptly whispered, "A waste."

Nami started in surprise. Robin had spoken very little since her Dreamshard had been taken, and never before without being addressed by one of the Straw Hats. "What was that?" she asked.

"A waste," Robin repeated tiredly. Speaking sounded like it was a struggle; like her thoughts came from so far away she could just barely catch hold of them to share. "Usopp...you shouldn't...waste things so important...not if you know you will...never...see them again...otherwise..."

"What?" Usopp asked, bewildered, but Robin was already crossing her arms, her signature move before using her Devil-Fruit powers. Belatedly, Nami realized what she was going to do.

"No, Robin, don't, you'll hurt yourself!" she yelled, but it was too late. Dozens of disembodied arms sprouted across the front of Oneirosa's gates and wall, dipping elegantly to snatch up the bits of twisted metal at their bases: Usopp's _Sunny_-based artillery. The not-archaeologist's back arched, and she yelled in pain as the dozens of dream-infused items burned her dreamless, exposed skin. But she held onto them gamely all the same, passing them along from hand to hand until the improvised projectiles had been tossed into one neat pile. When she dispelled the extra limbs, her natural hands were immediately covered in dozens of raw, red burns, and she grimaced in agony, hugging them close to her body.

"Robin!" Nami yelled in surprise, and stooped quickly, pulling the not-archaeologist up and drawing the elder woman's arm across her shoulders, careful of her now-damaged hands. "What'd you do that for? You didn't need to—"

"Too many," the non-historian rasped softly, "and not enough." She was still grimacing slightly in pain, and looked close to passing out again, just like Zoro had moments before. And there was another similarity to their not-swordsman, too. Her voice bore the same strain that Zoro's had, when he came too close to his dreams and his purpose without realizing it; when he had struggled in vain to explain how he had promised something to Luffy, but couldn't quite remember what. Robin was the same now, and Nami had a feeling that whatever the extra part of her unrelated to her missing dream was, it was fighting very hard to stay afloat, with the same desperate strength that had once caused the woman to want to die for them...or _live_ for them.

Usopp was hovering anxiously, and Nami jerked her head to the pile of artillery. "I've got her for now, catch up, hurry!" she ordered, and the sniper nodded, only pausing to stuff the newly recovered _Sunny_-nails into his bag before running ahead to rejoin the rest of the Straw Hat crew's formation. Nami followed, more dragging than supporting Robin as the woman began to succumb to her dreamless-induced weakness. Which probably wasn't helped any by her frustrating attempt to help, although Nami decided her idea was still a good one; she would pass along the idea to collect Usopp's nail weapons if it was possible.

It took surprisingly longer than Nami thought to catch up to the others, which upon reflection was a good thing: it meant Sanji-kun and Franky were able to carve their way through the crowds of Nightmares ahead without too much difficulty. She caught up to them as they finished forcing their way through the wide wide clearing just inside the gate, and gratefully took her place inside the small zone of safety that the Straw Hat arrowhead and fast-paced music within it provided.

"Don't forget, Sanji-kun," she yelled ahead to him, as she adjusted Robin's arm around her shoulders again, "the second street on the left, quickly!"

"Yes, Nami-san!" he called back immediately, and destroyed an intercepting Shepherd with another furious kick as he moved to lead the way. Franky cleared out a few of the smaller stunned Harvesters, and Usopp hastily sniped four of the spider-creatures lying in wait on the sides of the buildings they were heading towards.

Then they dived into the safe confines of the narrow streets with a rush, and Nami breathed a sigh of relief as the open space around them vanished. The first part of the attack had been a success. But now that the Nightmares knew some of their strategies and had gone to summon reinforcements, she was sure the next parts would be anything but easy.

They forced their way ahead now with as much speed as they could muster down the narrow first street, and since only two or three Nightmares could come at them from the front, it was much easier to progress while fighting. She could hear furious Nightmare screams from behind them as the creatures swarmed after them in their wake. But they had prepared for that too, and the Straw Hats rearranged quickly into the new formation they had discussed earlier.

Franky took the lead, swinging his plank warningly at anything that came near them. In the confines of the narrow streets he was a veritable brick wall that no grounded Nightmare could get past, and it also left his vulnerable back—and equally vulnerable captain, still slung across it—under the protection of his crew mates. No Nightmare could get inside that protective forward defense. And that was if anything was even allowed to get close; Usopp had also stayed near the front, shooting Harvesters and Shepherds alike over Franky's shoulders, long before the creatures were ever close enough to hit. Nami stayed by the formation's front as well, yelling directions to their shipwright whenever a new turn or fork came up in the roads. On very rare occasions she would smash a neglected Harvester in the head, or help Franky with a too-intense attacking Shepherd. But mostly she helped by picking up Usopp's dream-ammo when they walked past the discarded nails, or assisting with the dreamless crew members during more difficult moments. Zoro and Robin had been pushed into the center of the formation for their protection, as planned. Zoro was presently awake again, leaning heavily on Chopper for support as he wavered drunkenly, while Robin, passed out again, was slung over the doctor's Heavy Point shoulder. Brook remained in the center with them, the bow of his violin flashing wildly over the strings, and he had stopped _yohohoing_ a short while ago, replacing his laughter with a look of supreme concentration as he kept playing. And Sanji-kun alone acted as their rear defense. With Brook's music, the Harvesters couldn't approach them from behind at all, and the attacks of the Shepherds were slowed, allowing him to handle the more difficult monsters on his own.

They were making progress, and Nami felt a little hope growing in her as they pushed forward down another street, and another, and another. They were really pushing forward, and still conserving their strength at the same time; the boys didn't look tired at all, and she didn't feel exhausted either, even though they had been at it for some time now. Maybe it would be possible to make it all the way to the Temple of Dreams. Hell, maybe they'd even be able to get those Dreamshards back, and this wouldn't be a suicide run after all.

Then she saw the shadow flickering on the ground, a shadow with many arms, and her eyes widened as she looked up.

Generals. There were three of them up above, perching on the rooftops, staring down at them with cold, evil-looking reptilian faces and far, far too many eyes than should have been natural. The creatures hissed down at her, and seemed to almost be sneering as they kept pace with the attacking pirates on the rooftops. One leapt over them across to the building on the other side of the street, and Nami flinched automatically as it passed over her. The snakelike Nightmares noticed, and seemed to grin at her wickedly...before the second of their number vaulted off the rooftop and straight down towards the center of their group.

"_Look__ out!_" she shrieked in warning, and everyone in the center hurled themselves aside, Chopper dragging Zoro and Robin with him. The General smashed to the cobbles in their midst, scattering broken bits of stone that cut into the Straw Hats in all directions. Without a shred of hesitation the evil looking creature uncoiled itself from its landing and hurled itself at Brook, arms outstretched and hands wide.

Brook threw himself aside again, but staggered off balance, and for a few terrifying moments his cheerful violin music died as he struggled to right himself. Almost immediately the Harvesters in front of and behind them began to surge forward again, clacking their mandibles hungrily, and the Shepherds' pace picked up dramatically as well. The General in their midst raised its head to scream a new order in its rumbling, hissing voice even as it whipped around and lunged again, this time for Zoro and Robin.

Nami tried to scream a warning, but Sanji-kun was faster, and rocketed past her in a blur of black and blue. "_Collier__ Shoot!_" he snarled, and his high-force kick smashed directly into the General's neck, slamming the multi-armed creature into the wall of the adjacent building. It screamed again, this time clearly in pain, and its entire side where Sanji-kun had hit it was blackened and smoking even though Sanji-kun hadn't used his _Diable__ Jambe _move yet. Landing expertly, the cook whipped his leg up and added a jabbing kick to what passed for the Nightmare's chest, shouting, "_Poitrine!_"

The second kick was too much for it, and the General dissolved in a blaze of flames and rancid stench. At the same time Brook finally managed to recover from the creature's attack, and hastily brought bow to violin, just in time to prevent the wave of Harvesters and Shepherds approaching from both the ground and the walls from overwhelming them. Sanji-kun darted back to his post as rear-guard, smashing the nearest pair of Shepherds into embers furiously, while Usopp took care of the newcomers clinging to the walls and Franky returned to clearing a path for them.

Her heart still pounding, Nami nevertheless glared up at the two remaining Generals on the rooftops triumphantly. The creatures glared back, clearly not happy to see one of their brethren killed. They watched the Straw Hats for several more moments, and then one of the creatures disappeared over the roof edge...probably to go get reinforcements, or make new preparations after what it had witnessed. The other one slunk alongside them on the rooftops, keeping pace and watching with a critical eye.

Nami didn't like that thing watching them, not one damned bit. Although it was impossible to tell one General from another, the way they all looked the same, she was almost _positive _now that this was the General that had first escaped them. She didn't like the way it acted so safe and smug up there, or the way it watched them so calculatingly.

"Usopp!" She shouted suddenly. The sniper glanced back at her, surprised, and she pointed to the rooftops. "Kill that thing, hurry!"

He glanced up, saw the General glaring down at them all, and yelped in fear. But for all that, he was lighting-quick as he drew back the Kabuto's straps and fired one of _Sunny_'s nails up at the creature. It shrieked in surprise at the speed of the attack and pulled back up onto the safety of the rooftops hastily, but Nami could still hear it screeching in pain from up above. At the very least Usopp had managed a glancing shot, then. The General was more careful after that, only poking its burned head into range occasionally and for little more than a few seconds at a time. Usopp would take a shot at it when he could, although it was obviously difficult for him to keep his eye on the creature _and_ the other Nightmares he was helping Franky with. Besides, Nami decided after a moment, it was probably just as well; no use wasting their only effective ammunition, as long as the creature wasn't about to leap down and attack them.

The General didn't try leaping down at them like its brethren had, nor did any of the other Nightmares—Nami suspected it was the only one up there now. The thought was not encouraging. If the Generals weren't there, then that meant they were elsewhere, and that meant they were probably preparing a new counterattack.

And as they turned the next corner, she suddenly understood exactly what that counterattack would be. She hadn't realized just how fast they were moving, but the Straw Hats were already coming up on the first of two clearings that they would be forced to dart across, to reach the next part of their route. The clearing was, ironically, the same one that she and Sanji-kun had discovered the directional tablets in, and in the back of her mind she found it strange that the very spot that had helped them figure out how to decode Oneirosa was now going to be the first of their challenges navigating it.

"We've got a lot of the ugly bastards up ahead, Girlie," Franky warned over his shoulder. "Looks like a town square ahead, and it's packed with Harvesters and Shepherds."

"There's a General there, too," Usopp added with a grimace, adjusting his goggles slightly as he looked over Franky's arm. "Waiting right by the entrance."

As if it had heard them, the General still following them from above released a rumbling, hissing laugh that sounded mocking. Nami glared up at it furiously, and then shouted to the rest of the crew, "We need to get to the street directly opposite us now, on the other side of the square, here. Don't stop for anything! Don't waste time fighting the Nightmares...just push through as fast as you can, be ready for whatever trick they're gonna try, and try to keep Zoro and Robin surrounded and Franky's back guarded!" A chorus of acknowledgements reached her ears, and then they had plowed their way through the Nightmares choking the street to the clearing beyond.

Almost immediately the General lunged at them, arms outstretched, fanged snakelike mouth wide. Sanji-kun didn't hesitate to attack it, kicking out at the creature's head with a roar, but the General dodged back immediately. It seemed to almost grin at them, and then tossed its head back and gave a sharp, screaming order.

At once the Shepherds dotting the clearing barked in return, and the Harvesters in the back of the clearing, out of range of Brook's violin music, raised their heads, waved their tails, and released the terror-call that was their most deadly weapon. The eerie, terrifying sound flowed forward, and Nami's eyes widened in horror as the scream overrode the lively folk tune stunning the rest of the Harvesters in the square, just like how Brook's music freed the pirates from the stunning fear the creatures produced. The terror-call's effects moved like a wave, and Nami could see more and more of the stunned Harvesters begin to shuffle as they were freed from their immobility and raised their voices to join the call as well, strengthening it even further.

Even through Brook's music, the fearsome attack hit Nami like a cannonball, and she gasped out loud as the terror, the anxiety, the helplessness that blasted through her every sense. She staggered, and before her eyes she could see Bellemere dying again, could all but smell the blood, feel the stillness as she fell so, so slowly, could sense the raw, abject _horror_ as an enormous shadow from her past loomed over her, grinning—

From far away she heard a hesitant, staggered sound of a bow dragging badly over violin strings, and then screaming, and somebody else yelling, "Louder, Skelly, play louder, stronger, now now _now!_ Sing!" There was a minute pause, a soft gasp, and then the violin began screeching again somehow, louder than before, more energetic, more powerful, and she could hear a pair of voices singing at the tops of their lungs to a very fast-paced rendition of _Bink__'__s__ Sake._

Instantly Nami could feel the warmth spreading through her bones again. She blinked, shook her head to regain focus, and looked up—just in time to see an angry Shepherd bearing down on her, scythe arms drawn back to slice. The navigator screeched in surprise, but brought her Clima-Tact spinning around immediately to smash into the creature's side, like her old bo staff. Two of the three _Sunny_-cords made contact, and the Nightmare screamed in pain, trying to back away from her. Brook's music—and what she could now tell were his and Franky's voices as well—made the creature too slow to effectively dodge. With another expert swing she twisted the Clima-Tact and brought its _Sunny_-enhanced end straight down on the creature's jackal-like head, right between its six eyes. It howled in pain and vanished into oily smoke, and Nami cleared it with a third swipe of her weapon, trying to regain her bearings.

It was chaos all around them. The Straw Hats' movement had been effectively stunned by the powerful terror-call, enhanced by so many Harvesters being present, and even though Brook had managed to recover to start stunning the creatures once again and resist the call for them they were still under heavy attack.

Sanji-kun was dueling furiously with the grounded General. The creature kept dodging back too quickly to be hit, trying to lure the cook away from his position as rear-guard so that waiting Shepherds could attack them from behind. Sanji-kun was equal to that, and refused to let himself be led away, standing firmly in between the Nightmares and the rest of his crew, but his inability to kill the thing was clearly frustrating him.

The others weren't doing much better. Zoro and Robin had both collapsed to the dirty cobblestones, and even at a glance Nami could tell they were in obvious agony from the enhanced terror-blast, muttering and ranting under their breath. And Luffy seemed to be having problems as well. Even wrapped up securely in the _Sunny_-made hammock on Franky's back Nami could still hear him shrieking that something had been stolen, that it would never be returned, and he was thrashing so hard in the confines of his sling that the cyborg holding him had been forced to temporarily drop his plank to secure his captain more firmly.

Only Brook, Usopp, and Chopper seemed to be doing fairly successfully. Brook had finished _Bink__'__s__ Sake _and was now playing something else extremely fast-paced, still singing along in a language Nami didn't even recognize. How he managed to increase the volume of his little violin was a mystery, but one Nami wasn't about to question. Usopp had, with surprising cleverness, fired several handfuls of his dream ammunition into the air ahead of them; they rained down on the Harvesters like deadly hailstones, killing the creatures by the dozen and simultaneously weakening the effects of the terror-call. And Chopper, opposite Nami, was determined to keep their dreamless nakama safe. He was smashing the life out of the Shepherds still trying to close in, destroying them furiously as the creatures tried to push forward for the kill.

It was close, far too close, but the combined efforts of the Straw Hats pushed back the onslaught of Nightmares, barely recovering from what would have otherwise been a catastrophic defeat. With the terror-call diminished thanks to Usopp, the Harvesters were stunned into immobility once more and gradually fell silent. Brook's music became overpowering once again, and Nami could almost _feel_ her insides burning and her heart pounding in excitement from the clear, energetic notes. Zoro and Robin gasped in pain and looked dazed, eyes glazed over and barely focused, but they obviously weren't hurting anymore from the stunning Harvester attack. And on Franky's back the sling protecting Luffy slowly went quiet and stopped struggling, allowing Franky to arm himself with his plank once more.

"Get back here, you shitty snake!" Sanji-kun snarled from behind them, and Nami spun around to see the General, hissing and smoking from half a dozen glancing attacks on the part of their cook, retreating over the backs of the stunned Harvesters. His legs twitched as if he itched to chase after the thing, but he still knew better, and finally with a look of sheer fury on his face yelled after the creature, "Coward! Willing to attack someone helpless, but running when I fight back, huh? Shithead!"

"No time for that!" Nami said sharply. "Franky, move forward, hurry! Sanji-kun, you guard our backs. Chopper, can you carry Zoro and Robin in Heavy Point? I don't think either of them can move right now. Usopp, you and I will need to take the sides, just keep things from closing in on us. Brook, keep up the music, and the singing too, it seems stronger that way. Hurry, we need to get to that street fast!"

Everyone leapt into action. Franky began carving a path through the hoards of stunned or nearly-stunned Nightmares, smashing Shepherds and Harvesters alike with ease. Usopp, teeth chattering and sweating profusely, nevertheless managed to keep shooting into the crowds of Nightmares on their left, destroying approaching Shepherds and any Harvester that was just a bit too close. Nami tried a different tactic on the right side of their tiny formation. Since her Clima-Tact was all but useless for defeating multiple Nightmares, unaffected as they were by her controlled weather patterns, she fell back on the strategy she had first used against them: hurling a vicious _Cyclone__ Tempo _at the creatures over and over, knocking them back and away from her and her nakama, keeping their sides clear. Chopper ran in the center, Zoro and Robin jammed in an uncomfortable-looking position together under one arm, drooping like dead weight, while he balanced his Adam Wood plank under the other. Brook charged alongside him with violin at the ready and singing at the tops of his lungs (sort of). At their rear Sanji-kun destroyed anything that made one last attempt to stop them, and kept an eye out for more attacking Generals; but the snake-arm he'd been fighting had disappeared for good, and was no longer in the clearing.

At last, with an audible sigh of relief that Nami was sure every single crew member released, they plunged into the narrow safety of the next street. Once again they spread into their original formation, with Franky, Usopp, and Nami at the front, and Sanji-kun guarding the back, and things immediately became a little easier without the pressures of dozens of Nightmares surrounding them.

"Take a breather while you can, guys!" Nami encouraged. "We can't stop, but we've got a little while until the next city square, so conserve your strength while you can!" A chorus of ragged cheers went up, but the Straw Hats, though starting to tire, were encouraged nonetheless. They had made it past another obstacle, and were still going strong.

They pushed through half a dozen new turns, winding their way through the narrow streets as fast as they could. Nami could see another General on the rooftops again—she was sure it was the same one as before—following them easily while ducking out of range whenever it realized it was spotted. Usopp tried for it several more times, and Nami tried twice as well with a _Cyclone __Tempo, _figuring a well-placed shot would still hit the creature with the _Sunny_'s cord. But it was clever and on the lookout for such attacks now, and they were never able to do more than graze it.

Still, while that was worrisome, they had successes as well. Zoro was awake again and on his feet. He appeared to have decided that if he couldn't fight he was damn well not going to tie somebody up needing help walking, and was pushing hard to keep up with the group as they fought their way forward. Robin was awake as well, looking drained, but was able to support herself by leaning on Chopper's Heavy Point form, allowing the doctor the use of both arms with which to swing his plank and help with their defenses. Several times she tried to use her Hana-Hana powers to keep herself up as well, but it seemed it was difficult to sustain the extra hands in such a weakened state, and they never lasted long.

Regardless, every bit helped, and as they pushed forward—Nami had to guess they'd been attacking for at least two hours now, maybe more—they were able to get further and further into the city without being forced to stop. The next stretch of narrow roads were negotiated successfully, and soon they turned the corner towards the final narrow street before the second clearing they would be required to cross.

"The next challenge is coming up," she shouted to the others. "Another clearing. This time we need to get to the street on the far west. Just do what we did before, and be ready for another fear-scream trick like last time...if we did it before we can do it again!"

"You got it, sis," Franky called from the front. "Ready, everybody? Here we go..._suuuupeeeeeer!_" And the cyborg charged forward with his own brand of war-cry, Adam Wood plank at the ready.

They plowed into the second clearing, arranged protectively around their dreamless nakama, fully ready for combat. Expecting the Nightmares to try utilizing their terror-call again, the entire crew was raggedly singing along to all the folk songs Brook had ever taught them, hoping to combat the powerful wave of fear with any form of music they could create. Franky lead the way, charging forward, and Usopp and Nami did their best to clear the area before the cyborg with Dream Stars and the _Cyclone __Tempo_, destroying or blowing away their enemies.

It was a good start, and they managed to push themselves into the clearing several yards before they realized the Nightmares weren't using the same strategy at all. The city square was packed with Harvesters and only one or two Shepherds; a foolish tactic on the part of the Nightmares, Nami thought, since the Harvesters were virtually useless against Brook's stunning music. But the General perched on the broken down fountain in the center of the square—the same one that had fought Sanji-kun in the last clearing, if the burn scars on it were anything to judge by—did not look particularly agitated, and seemed to grin at them nastily as they forced their way still further into the clearing.

Then it raised its head and gave a sharp, rumbling yell, and Nami realized too late that they had walked into a new trap.

Almost immediately the few Shepherds in the clearing began clapping their scythe arms together, making loud, rough banging noises that made it difficult to hear the violin, or the voices singing around her. Startled, Nami watched in growing realization as the Harvesters began to shuffle their multitude of limbs, regaining their movement, clacking and screeching loudly to block out the sound even further for their brethren. This time the creatures did not try the terror-call; instead, with several sharp barks from the Shepherds, the disgusting spider-cat creatures screamed in delight at the hunt, and charged straight at the Straw Hats in a violent, heavy wave.

The onslaught was far, far too strong for them to hold against. Even with her _Sunny_-wrapped Clima-Tact, Nami was only able to kill one of the monstrous creatures at a time; with dozens rushing at them all at once, they risked being crushed by the sheer momentum of the charge, rather than killed by the creatures' jaws or bladed tails. She swung out furiously with her weapon, but after only a few hits was bodily knocked aside by one of the creatures. Gasping in pain at the glancing blow—it had unfortunately hit her wounded arm, sending a shooting pain through her—she hit the ground, and hastily rolled aside and to her feet, trying to avoid being stepped on.

They needed space. They needed air, or they were going to get overrun. Furiously she realigned her Clima-Tact until it was in the right combination and hurled it at the nearest group of Harvesters, screaming, "_Cyclone__ Tempo!_" The creature she hit disintegrated into oily smoke with a screech as her well-aimed dream-enhanced weapon hit it, and several others were blown back by the enormous gust of air her weapon created. She caught the weapon and hurled it again, a and a third time after that, desperate to give her nakama at least a little leeway in the fight.

Not that they were doing well. This new bull rush strategy on the part of the Nightmares had been disgustingly efficient. Sanji-kun was practically buried in the creatures, kicking with wild abandon to keep the creatures from stealing his dream just as much as to kill the ugly things. Franky was being overrun; only his frantically smashing Adam Wood plank was keeping the creatures from seizing him in their jaws to remove his Dreamshard. Even worse, two Harvesters were slashing greedily at the sling on his back, screaming when their claws began to disintegrate at the touch of the _Sunny_'s sailcloth, but trying all the same to rip their way into the captain protected inside. Chopper was currently trying to assist the cyborg, beating at the Nightmares on his back and at his sides to keep them off of Luffy, yelling frantically. Usopp had withdrawn into the center, crouching in front of Zoro and Robin as he tried to keep the Nightmares away from them. Both were swaying again, looking ready to pass out—as if they could have picked a worse time! And all the while the creatures were screaming, thrashing, clacking, and banging, doing their level best to drown out Brook's music and song, no matter how loudly he screamed the lyrics or how quickly he played the violin.

They needed to do something about the noise. If she could just stun them long enough for Brook's music to recover again...but what could she do? Her Clima-Tact was excellent against human foes, but all but useless against Nightmares, which could only ultimately be killed by dream items. Not even her Thunder Lance Tempo had been able to bring one of the creatures down the other day—she had barely stopped it for a few seconds!

A few...seconds...

Nami's eyes widened as an idea came to her, and she threw out one more _Cyclone __Tempo _to keep the creatures off of her long enough to work. Ducking back into the slightly more open space she had just created, she shoved the electric piece of the Clima-Tact into her belt and, using the remaining two poles, began producing Cool and Heat balls as fast as she possibly could. She aimed farther down the clearing, since she knew she'd have little chance to control her plan once it was set in motion. The weather never listened to humans, after all, not even when it was artificially generated by her. If she just had enough time—

Usopp screamed a warning suddenly, and although she kept the Cool and Heat poles pointing forward to continue their work, Nami allowed herself to whip her head over her shoulder to see what was going on. She was just in time to see the sniper tossed aside as an unfortunately lucky Harvester charged its way past him, and without hesitation the clicking, screaming creature charged straight at Robin and seized her in its ugly, mismatched jaws.

"_Robin!_" Nami screamed, but she was too far away to help in time. The creature was already turning around, scuttling back the way it came over a panicked, scrabbling Usopp.

"_Robin-chan!_" came Sanji-kun's anguished, enraged voice as well, but he, too, was in the thick of combat, barely able to escape himself much less come to her rescue. Usopp was the closest, but he was down now, clutching at a slashing injury on his chest. Not even Robin could save herself: Nami had seen a few arms sprout for a fraction of a second, but they had dissolved into petals with a groan of pain from their owner as the Nightmare clutched her more tightly in its jaws. They were going to be too late—

Zoro, unexpectedly, hurled himself at the creature's head. Nami had not honestly expected him to be capable of such a maneuver, not when he could barely stand and had looked ready to pass out seconds before. But there was an enraged expression on his ashen face, and even the dark lines of exhaustion under his eyes looked more like the dangerous shadows his bandanna usually cast, when it was on. He threw himself at the Nightmare, wrapped his arms around the thing's thick neck, and scrabbled to drag it back, tried to force it to open its jaws and release his nakama.

His efforts were absolutely useless. Even if the Nightmare hadn't been immune to such attacks, Zoro in his present state was too weak to present much of a fight for anything or anyone, and Nami could already see his strength lagging even after a bare few seconds as he wobbled dangerously. Still he tried, and Nami was grateful to see that he _was_ successful in one regard. The Harvester, with its limited intelligence, paused in confusion as it found a second human hanging off of its body, and seemed unsure as to whether or not it should try to claim Zoro also, or knock him aside. After several seconds it finally decided on the latter, and slashed out with its scythe-tail immediately, aiming for their currently not-a-swordsman. Zoro grunted as the thing's attack sliced a new gash into his shoulder, and the backswing of the stinger's dull side smashed into the swordsman's head, causing him to hiss in pain and finally be dislodged. Zoro hit the ground, rolled, and dazedly tried to stumble to his feet for a second attack, but his drunken swaying clearly indicated that wasn't going to happen.

That was fine, though, because with a cry of _"__Swallow__ Bond__ en__ Avant!__" _Brook suddenly descended from the air, sheathed cane-sword pointing straight down at the Harvester's armored head. The cane's shiny lacquered surface had been wrapped in cord since Franky's, Brook's, and Chopper's sudden rescue yesterday as a 'just in case' measure, although armed with his music none of the Straw Hats had thought he'd need to fight. Now, with his music presently ineffectual, Brook had decided to make himself useful in other ways. Using the time Zoro had bought with his unexpected attack, he'd vaulted into the air off of another Harvester and came down like an arrow on Robin's attacker.

The creature dissolved with a scream, and several of the Harvesters drew back in surprise. Apparently the Nightmares had not thought Brook capable of physically attacking, only of causing the music they loathed so much. The skeleton took the opportunity to drag Robin back to what passed for safety at the center of the group, and helped the still-groaning Usopp up as well.

Nami breathed a sigh of relief, but it would only be temporary unless they could stop this onslaught, and that required getting Brook's music active again. The Harvesters had been startled, but they were already pressing in again, still yowling and screeching to block out noise, and everyone was hard pressed to keep them at bay. Their progress had been halted completely.

It would be up to her to get it started again. Assured that her companions were safe once more, Nami glanced up, checked the progress of her own attack. She grinned to herself at what she saw; the cloud she'd created was quite large now, and just about ready for use. Snapping the Cool and Heat poles back together, she pulled the Thunder piece from her belt and set it charging.

"Careful, everyone!" she warned, as she drew her arm back. "There's a thunderstorm on the way...wouldn't want to get hit! Usopp and Brook, you especially get ready!" And with a hard swing of the Clima-Tact's final piece, she sent a fully charged Thunder Ball arrowing straight towards the cloud with a yell of, "_Thunderbolt__ Tempo!_"

The dark cloud hanging above the square lit up suddenly, and it began to roil with energy, crackling angrily at the sudden charge Nami had forced within it. The Shepherds looked surprised at the thundercloud above them, and the General, shrieking suddenly, darted to get out from underneath it.

It was too late. The crackling within the cloud grew stronger, and without warning dozens of thunderbolts began to smash down into the cobblestones below, sending broken stone flying and causing the ground beneath their feet to shake so much that Zoro and Robin were knocked off balance. Nami could feel the power of the artificial storm reverberating in her very bones, and watched with grim satisfaction as the bolts darted to the ground any way they could, over and over. A few of the bolts came towards the Straw Hats, and she saw several of her nakama ducking in a panic. Thinking quickly, she raised the Clima-Tact over her head to act as a lightning rod; like when she used it for her Thunder Lance technique, the Thunder charge would attract the lightning bolts and keep her friends safe.

The storm's thunderbolts smashed through the Nightmares in its path as well, uncaring of what it hit. The creatures screamed in surprise, and, although they weren't killed the attack still had its intended effect: like the Harvester that had been prey to her Thunder Lance, the creatures were temporarily stunned. Widespread confusion descended on the Nightmares in the clearing suddenly as dozens of the creatures fell silent, temporarily frozen thanks to the powerful electric attacks, and their drowning cacophony unexpectedly faded.

Forewarned, Brook and Usopp immediately leapt into action, taking advantage of the time Nami had bought them. Brook began playing his music furiously again, and the loud, energetic folk tunes caused all of the Harvesters, even the lucky few not hit by Nami's lightning bolts, to go rigid and immobile. And Usopp employed the same technique that he had in the last clearing, firing dozens of _Sunny_-nails into the air, allowing them to rain down on the stunned Harvesters like metallic hail from Nami's man-made storm. As before the creatures died in droves, ensuring their silence, and the strength of Brook's music, even further.

Encouraged, the rest of the Straw Hats managed to pull themselves together again, though by now they were a haggard and exhausted bunch. Sanji-kun had been injured several times in his wild attempts to both defend himself and his crew, and sported several gashes from the Harvesters' scythe-tails, but despite his new wounds he managed to smash his way back to the crew and help them clear their way forward again. Usopp's chest wound was dripping pretty badly, but Chopper was already taking care of it, wrapping it quickly and expertly now that Franky was being assisted by their cook. Robin and Zoro had managed to work together to pull themselves to their feet, and were now leaning wearily against each other, barely keeping each other up—but at least they were up, and at present not in danger again.

Somehow they managed to recover again, and pulled their ragged, falling-apart formation back together long enough to rush their way to the next targeted street. Nami suspected this was in part due to the confusion and chaos amongst the Nightmares now, still stunned by Brook's music and being struck by the remaining thunderbolts her man-made cloud had left. Whatever the reason, she was eternally grateful for it as they finally managed to dive into the next section of closed-in streets, and everyone breathed an audible sigh of relief when they did. They'd still be fighting, but it would be infinitely easier here than out amongst a swarm of the ugly brutes.

They pushed their way more insistently now through the narrow streets, all of their senses at the ready. Nami could tell that the same General as before was following them from above again, keeping pace while trying not to present itself as a target. She ignored it. By now she knew the creature would not leap down on them, and there was no use wasting energy or precious ammunition on its taunting presence. Usopp's bag of _Sunny _nails was already starting to get suspiciously smaller, for all her efforts to pick the spent bits up as they moved forward, and she didn't want to know what would happen if he ran out. Although at this rate it was looking more like 'when.'

So they kept going, and Nami was sure another hour had passed—at any rate the sun was starting to get high in the sky, though it wasn't quite above them yet—and the fighting became a blur of sights, sounds, and emotions all around her. She couldn't count now how many times she'd picked up some of Usopp's Dream Stars, or smashed an offending Harvester's head in, or helped Zoro or Robin to stagger forward as they grew weaker and weaker from the prolonged activity. All Nami knew was that all of them happened a _lot, _interspersed only with the occasional shouting of a direction to Franky as they turned down the next curving, twisting path.

Until suddenly she no longer knew where they were going. With a start, Nami realized that they had come up to the boundary, to the farthest point she and Sanji-kun had been able to reach last night, without being forced to reveal themselves. She was stunned they had gotten so far. When they first attacked Oneirosa's gate it had seemed hopeless, and now they were almost at the Temple of Dreams itself, so close to recovering Luffy's Pirate King ambition and Zoro's Greatest Swordsman goal and Robin's search for the True History. They had made it this far...and although it seemed utterly hopeless, Nami fixed her captain's laughing face in her mind and determined that they _would_ make it.

"Just six blocks to the Temple of Dreams now, guys!" Nami yelled to the rest of the boys, and although they were starting to look very worn down now they seemed to regain a little strength at the announcement. "From here it's guessing games, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out where to go next, as long as Zoro doesn't jinx me."

"How th'hell would it be my fault," the not-swordsman slurred, and gave her a weak attempt at a glare from where Chopper was currently holding him up. "I dun get lost...things _move._"

Sanji-kun snorted from behind the navigator, and she was pretty sure she heard him mutter, "Idiot marimo," but thankfully he didn't start picking a fight. That would be the last thing they needed, after all they'd already made it through.

Concentrating now, and trying to envision the patterns of the city in her head, Nami directed Franky to the left down the first of the untested streets. They pushed forward quickly now, heartened that they had nearly made it to their goal, and even with more numerous swarms of Nightmares before them their speed was still barely slowed a fraction.

In the end they had to double back three times, once because of unexpected rubble that had long since blocked the street, and twice because Nami's most educated guesses had led them to dead end alleyways. All three times, it had been more than a little difficult to double back, with fresh Nightmares swarming in behind them. Sanji-kun had proved invaluable as their rear-guard then, blasting their way furiously back out of the holes they had dug themselves into until they could rearrange and push forward once again. Each time they _did_ get stuck, Nami cursed Zoro vehemently and raised his interest by ten percent; she was absolutely sure he was clouding her normally flawless directional abilities somehow, even if he _had_ been unconscious for two of the three misdirections.

But in the end they made it. After scrabbling amongst the streets searching for a solution, the crew suddenly found themselves at the edge of a vast open square, with the Temple of Dreams on the far side, its glittering crystal doors open and inviting. Or what would have been inviting, at any rate, if the doorways and the clearing had not been so choked with Nightmares it was impossible to see the cobbles on the ground.

The sight was daunting, but this time they were ready, and employed all of their hard-earned lessons for the crossing of the final enormous open space. From the relative safety of the confined streets Nami created a second enormous thundercloud, to counteract the inevitable cacophony the creatures would try to create to cancel out Brook's music. The Harvesters and Shepherds, ordered by the fast-learning Generals, immediately scuttled out from underneath the cloud to avoid the thunderbolts. But this time Nami had planned ahead for that, and as the creatures parted from beneath the cloud, exposing a clear path, the Straw Hats clumped together around her and charged forward. Nami once again raised her Clima-Tact high, attracting the dozens of powerful electrical bolts to her Thunder pole instead of her nakama. Though the resulting repeated impacts were enough to numb her hands as they ran, the price was well worth it; they were already halfway across the courtyard to the Temple of Dreams.

Realizing they had been tricked, the Generals and Shepherds herded what Harvesters were out of range of Brook's music forward to block their path. Once again Usopp utilized his wide-ranged Dream Stars attack, tossing dozens of nails into the air to let them fall like hail down onto their enemies. The price was again costly, but with a clear path to the Temple's stairs now, it was still worth it.

Then they were there, and forced their way up the steps wildly, furiously, destroying Harvesters, Shepherds, and even Generals alike in their wake. The realization that they were so _close _to their goal lit them up with renewed determination, and they kicked, smashed, shot, and sang their way forward with no hesitation, forcing their way to the crystal doors of the Temple, and further, within its shimmering depths.

"The doors!" Nami shrieked loudly, as she sent out a _Cyclone __Tempo_, driving several of the ambitious Nightmares back into the depths of the Temple as the pirates darted into its confines. "Get the doors, close them, quick!" The Nightmares had avoided touching the Temple's crystalline surfaces last night, and she hadn't seen a single one crouching on the building itself even as they attacked. If they could close the many _hundreds _of creatures still outside off from entering through the main doorway, it was possible they wouldn't be able to enter at all, effectively cutting off their reinforcements.

Chopper and Franky seemed to understand her urgency as well, and dropped their planks quickly. Each seized one of the heavy-looking doors and began to push hard, struggling to shut the enormous structures. It went agonizingly slowly. Usopp was forced to face the steps outside and shoot down any approaching creatures to prevent them from getting in. Nami and Sanji-kun faced the inside of the Temple, trying to keep the Nightmares still inside from overwhelming them completely, and in particular from snatching Zoro and Robin, unceremoniously dumped behind them. Brook stood over their dreamless companions as a last defense, playing his music loudly, and now that they were indoors the cheerful noises seemed to bounce and echo wildly all around them.

It was slow work, but with their combined efforts they pulled it off. Franky and Chopper forced the aged, heavy crystal doors to move, dragging along the ground until, at last, they slammed shut with a loud cracking noise. There was a furious series of enraged screams from outside as the Nightmares found themselves abruptly cut off from their prey, and a ragged but still enthusiastic cheer went up from the Straw Hats as they managed, against all odds, to make it to the one place they had never expected to survive to see.

But it wasn't over yet. Narrowing her eyes in determination, Nami nodded to the others—all with grim, fierce expressions as well, other than the currently passed out Zoro and Robin. As one the Straw Hat crew turned to face the new, furiously hissing threats approaching from within the Temple, and raising their weapons, began the next stage of their attack.

The battle was far from over.

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><p>Now shit's about to get real. :D<p>

This is totally awesome because a very special member of the cast is going to be introduced on Halloween...how fitting! (I did not actually intend for that to happen; it just worked out that way. Awesome).

~VelkynKarma


	16. Temple

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part sixteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Wishes:** Happy Halloweeeeeen everybody! You can probably tell based on degree of creepiness in my works that it is a holiday I very much enjoy :D

**Music Box:** One musical piece in particular always jumps to mind for this chapter, so here's my suggestion:  
>www (dot) youtube (dot) com (slash) watch?v=4iay7kmkj44<br>It follows the flow of the story events very well, in my opinion :) From the awe of the temple, to the evil things in it.

**Note:** This story has surpassed even _Mindshattered_ in terms of the reviews that fic had when it was originally finished. Wow guys. Thanks a bunch. I love you all. :D (It's also longer, because I'm crazy).

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"You sanguine about the kind of reception we're apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Cap'n?"<br>"Absolutely. What's 'sanguine' mean?"  
>" 'Sanguine.' Hopeful. Plus—point of interest—it also means 'bloody.' "<br>"Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don't it?"  
>~<em>Firefly<em>

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><p>The Straw Hat Pirates stood, tired but with new confidence, as the Nightmares still within the Temple of Dreams swarmed screeching towards them. Brook's violin music was able to easily hold the Harvesters at bay, and slow the attacking Shepherds; there were no Generals in sight. In the narrow choke point of the entrance hallway, with the doors safely closed at their back, it was all too easy to repel the angry creatures. As the boys fought off the initial onslaught with renewed determination, Nami took the time to look around and regain her bearings.<p>

The first thing she noticed was that the Temple of Dreams was not dark, as she had initially anticipated it would be. That struck her as odd. While obviously not injured by the light the way the zombies on Thriller Bark had been, the Nightmares still clearly _disliked_ it and were blinded by the brightness. Nami had expected their chosen nest to be dark and dank as a result, designed in every way to be comfortable and to their advantage. Not so at all: the outer walls of the Temple seemed to be made entirely of crystal, and much like the spires and domes outside they acted like thousands of prisms, casting oddly beautiful rainbows all over every available surface as the sunlight worked its way through them. The floor was still made of stone, although it was scratched up heavily from the Nightmares' claws, and in some places it appeared to have been intentionally torn up and thrown against the crystal walls to block some of the reflected sunlight. But for the most part the sun-strengthening crystal walls were uncovered, causing the dusty air to shimmer brightly all around them.

Something about that didn't sit right with Nami. It didn't make any sense. She was sure her initial expectation of the creatures' stronghold was correct: by all rights they _should_ have chosen a darker place, more suited to their own preference for night, as their nesting grounds. They did willingly choose to attack at night when they could, after all, and obviously their night vision was stronger. If this Temple didn't suit their needs, if they couldn't even seem to touch portions of it, or actively block out the light, then why choose to stay here?

The only explanation that Nami could come to was that there was something _else _about the Temple that held them there, for whatever reason. Robin had said that the ancient recordings told of the Nightmares coming from Oneirosa—perhaps they had originated from this Temple, and were bound to it somehow. Or perhaps they were like dragons, jealously guarding some treasure of theirs inside the Temple of Dreams that they didn't want others to find (she briefly wondered if it was worth anything to humans, and if they would be able to slip out with it as well, along with her nakamas' Dreamshards; at least the entire endeavor wouldn't be a _total_ waste, then).

But ultimately their reasons didn't matter. What _did _matter was that this was definitely the center of the Nightmares' base, or hive, or whatever it was, and they could not afford to drop their guard now. Even with the few advantages the Temple provided to them—like the lights that would blind the creatures, but help the pirates, or the fact that Brook's music now echoed in the ancient passages of the Temple and seemed to stretch even further than before—they still had to be very, very careful about how they approached the Dreamshard recovery, or they were all going to be worse than dead...shortly before they _were _dead.

Especially because the writings Robin had translated repeatedly spoke of a Queen of the Night. And if the writings had been accurate about everything else...then this Queen probably existed, and she was probably at the heart of the Nightmares' territory.

They wouldn't get anything done standing here, so Nami readjusted her Clima-Tact and hurled another _Cyclone__ Tempo_ at the Nightmare-packed hallway in front of them, blasting the creatures back the way they had come long enough to give the boys a breather. "Let's hurry!" she shouted to them, as they gratefully stepped back from the fighting for a few moments. "Remember...we're looking for Attendants first and foremost!"

Several voices acknowledged her, and somehow Sanji-kun even had enough energy left to trill "Yes, Nami-saaaaaan!" loudly over the Nightmares' outraged screams; his voice echoed all around her in the crystal halls. Usopp and Chopper darted back to their currently unconscious dreamless nakama, lifting Robin and Zoro to keep carrying them forward. Nami, Sanji-kun, and Franky spread out across the wide hallway to block the Nightmares from their weakened crew mates, and Brook followed just behind them to support them with his now eerily echoing music, still singing old folk tunes and sea ditties that Nami mostly didn't recognize.

For her part, it felt strange to the navigator to be fighting alongside Sanji-kun as a front-line attacker. He was usually in the thick of any fight with Luffy and Zoro, while she remained behind more or less as a supporting combatant to guard her—that was, the crew's—treasure, unless it was a big fight that required all of them. And even Franky usually saw more straight-up brute-force combat than she did. But now here she was, smashing Harvesters and Shepherds into smoke with her Clima-Tact, her usual subtlety in combat completely abandoned in favor of breaking in more than a few heads. She was getting as bad as Luffy or Zoro!

_All __the __more __reason__ to __get__ their__ Dreamshards __back,_ Nami decided, as she brought her weapon cracking down on the back of yet another Harvester's twisted cat skull. _They__ can __take __back __their __titles __and __I __can __go __back __to __telling __them__ they__'__re __being __idiots __for __doing _exactly _what __I__'__m__ doing __now._

They forced their way down the hall, beating back furious Nightmares with every step they took. Even with the doors to the outside closed, and with the hundreds—probably _thousands_—of Nightmares outside cut off from their brethren, there were still far too many for comfort in the confines of the Temple of Dreams itself. Nami wasn't surprised. From what she and Sanji-kun had seen yesterday, the Temple was enormous, probably because it had once been the center of worship on the island if Robin's translations were anything to go by. The Temple was probably still packed to bursting with the evil creatures, and most of those were probably the stronger Shepherds than the weaker Harvesters, if the bunch they were currently dealing with was anything to go by.

But at last they made it to the end of the hallway, and Nami cursed in surprise at what she saw. Further into the building, the walls and floors changed more to stone. It seemed only the very exterior of the Temple was made out of crystal, while what had probably once been hundreds of rooms and hallways inside were built from easier to arrange quarry stones. Once upon a time, the entrance hallway they were presently in probably led to an enormous set of double stone doors, perhaps leading into a large place of worship that could hold many people, like the temples they had seen in other villages on the island only magnified many times over. Nami could still see traces of the doorway's stonework, but the walls had long since been caved in, probably intentionally to block entryway. Nami had a suspicious feeling it was the Generals' handiwork, and that something very important was on the other side of that former doorway, but now it was an impassable roadblock.

They'd have to go around, unfortunately. Two hallways stretched to either side in front of the old doorway, going in opposite directions; the entire front of the temple seemed to be situated like a 'T' shape, with Nightmares pouring at them from either side. Nami was just trying to deduce which way would be safer to travel in, when she heard Chopper give a sudden shout.

"An Attendant!" The doctor yelled, hefting Zoro on one shoulder and setting down his plank long enough to point down the left-hand hallway. "There, at the back of all these Nightmares!"

"There's another one in the other direction!" Usopp called a second later, squinting through his goggles as he pointed to the right.

Nami's eyes widened and she whipped her head back and forth, trying to catch sight of the creatures even as she smashed her Clima-Tact into still more Harvester heads. "Are the baskets glowing? Do they have Dreamshards?"

"Can't tell," Usopp shouted back, frowning. "The crystal walls are making it too hard to tell if there's anything in them."

Nearby, Chopper nodded in agreement, looking frustrated, and yelled, "The one I spotted is running, Nami!"

Nami swore under her breath. There was no help for it; they had to get to those Attendants. The chances that they were carrying Luffy's, Zoro's, or Robin's Dreamshards was too high to pass up. They simply had to risk it. "We'll split up," she ordered. "Franky, you take Usopp, Robin, and Brook and head right. Sanji-kun, Chopper, you're with me, and keep a tight hold on Zoro." Who had been unconscious ever since they stepped into the Temple, same as Robin, so he probably wouldn't be doing anything stupid. "We're going left. Catch those Attendants, and make sure you kill them...even if they don't have the Dreamshards, only one will be left and it won't be able to pass them around!"

"Will you be okay without my music?" Brook asked anxiously. His bony fingers were still flying over the strings with remarkable speed, even as he asked the question.

"We should be fine," Nami said grimly, "with luck, anyway. Our hallway seems to have more Shepherds than Harvesters, and Sanji-kun doesn't have as much of a problem destroying those." The cook beamed next to her even as he kicked in the jackal-like head of one of the creatures in question, and it vanished with a howl after a single attack. "Now hurry, before those things get away!"

"Got it, Sis!" Franky said, and the cyborg charged his way down the right-hand hallway, swinging his enormous plank wildly to keep the creatures off of his nakama, especially the one still bundled so carefully on his back. Brook charged after him, still playing the violin, and Usopp followed, dragging the unconscious Robin along with one arm over his shoulders.

"Let's move!" Nami ordered, turning to their own hallway.

Sanji-kun immediately leapt to clear the way for her, roaring, "_Frit __Assorti!_" loudly as he kicked upwards at several of the sluggishly charging, looming Shepherds. The creatures burst into stinking oily smoke on impact—not much of an improvement over their usual stench—and the others fell into step behind him, cleaning up the rare few creatures that managed to slip past the cook. Chopper, still carrying a very pale and unconscious Zoro over one shoulder, had finally been forced to sling his plank aside, unable to use it with only one hand. The reindeer had planned ahead for such a problem, and now fought with thick strips of sailcloth that had been tied around his Heavy Point's knuckles, enhancing his punches considerably with Franky's personal dream. And Nami still had her cord-bound Clima-Tact, putting it to good use by smashing in the heads of the few Harvesters in their way, allowing Sanji-kun to focus his considerable power on the more dangerous Shepherds.

They fought hard, but even so their progress was far too slow for Nami's tastes. Moving forward was like trying to wade through a river of molasses; even with all their strength it still took three times as much effort as it should have just to gain a few feet, and without the benefit of Brook's music the Nightmares' assault seemed never ending. Even worse, up ahead Nami could see the Attendant turning, beginning to slither away as the Straw Hats pushed their way towards it. Even worse, a General had appeared ahead from around the corner at the end of the hallway to escort the basket-carrying Nightmare protectively. Any moment now the thing was going to vanish around the corner, and who knew if they would ever find it again?

"_Sanji-kun!_" She roared over the screeching and barking of the attacking creatures. "Don't let that thing get away, hurry! Chopper, let's go!"

"Yes, Nami-san!" the cook answered immediately, and Chopper nodded as well; both understood exactly what she was getting at. She and the doctor charged forward, striking out simultaneously with fists and Clima-Tact. The Nightmares were surprised by the sudden maneuver, and in the brief few seconds it provided Sanji-kun ducked back out of their range and began spinning rapidly in place. This close to him, Nami could feel the temperature rising suddenly and exponentially as he funneled it all downward, and seconds later he came to a halt, his entire right leg crackling fiercely like white-hot embers. For a brief moment Nami was concerned that the flaming maneuver would burn up the sailcloth tied around Sanji-kun's shoes, but when she squinted very carefully she noted with grim satisfaction that the cloth, like the cook's shoe and pant-leg, was completely safe.

The Nightmares recoiled momentarily, unsure what to make of this new development, but after a moment the General at the very back of the hallway gave a rumbling hiss and waved them forward. It seemed unconcerned, and Nami figured that it had probably heard about Sanji-kun's last use of the _Diable__Jambe,_back in the village of Remia. The attack had stunned the creatures badly then, but otherwise been useless.

They had no idea what was in store for them, Nami thought, as Sanji-kun glared at the creatures hatefully with his one visible eye and tapped his now-flaming leg experimentally on the worn stone floor. He crouched, and then with all the enhanced speed that his _Diable__ Jambe _move seemed to grant him, hurtled himself forward and roared, "_Extra Haché!_"

It was a slaughter-fest. Sanji-kun barely needed to tap the Nightmares, even the Shepherds, with his heavy barrage of rapid-fire flame-coated kicks before they screamed and died, and his momentum from the initial charge was so strong that the single attack practically carried him halfway down the hall. The bursts of flames from Sanji-kun's attack were so hot and fast it was almost impossible to tell where his attack left off, and the flame bursts of the dying Nightmares began. Within seconds the first half of the hallway had been cleared of the creatures, leaving nothing but emptiness in the cook's wake, and Nami and Chopper ran quickly to catch up and keep him safely nearby.

The General at the end of the hallway was acting alarmed now, pushing and gesturing frantically for the Attendant to run. And although the last half of the hallway was still clogged with Shepherds and some Harvesters that were clearly reluctant to act as cannon fodder, they nevertheless charged at Sanji-kun furiously, barking and screeching at the tops of their lungs.

Sanji-kun didn't hesitate, and using the same move as before he propelled himself forward, blasting the now-panicking Nightmares into smoke and flames with his significantly powerful dream-enhanced attack. A bare few seconds passed before almost all of the creatures in that hallway were eradicated, and Sanji-kun landed in front of the few remaining in the corner, acting as a last pathetic wall between themselves and the Attendant.

Chopper and Nami charged forward into their diminished ranks, swinging fists and Clima-Tact with unerring accuracy, sending another pair of the creatures screaming into nonexistence. Nami frowned slightly as Sanji-kun joined them; she could hear him panting slightly, and had a feeling his flame leg was probably to blame. She had never seen him use it for very long, mostly just to give significant attacks of his a major boost, and figured he likely wasn't supposed to employ it for too long without consequences.

But ultimately he knew his own limits better than hers, and she knew for certain that they were all going to be straining themselves to the limit before the day was over. So she smashed in the head of another Nightmare and yelled to him, "Sanji-kun, the Attendant, quickly!" as the creature and its General escort darted around the corner.

He answered with actions, not words, and leapt through the cracks in the Nightmares' defense that Nami and Chopper had created. The General turned to face him, reaching out with its many hands to protect its charge as the cook hurtled himself at it. Sanji-kun responded with a sharp _"Mouton shot!"_ and brought his outstretched flaming foot smashing right into the General's snakelike face. It barely had time to shriek before it burst into smoke, and by then Sanji-kun was already whirling, spinning on his heel to bring his burning leg down in a vicious axe kick straight into the unprotected Attendant's body.

The basket-wielding creature dissolved rapidly, utterly noiseless, its multitude of eyes wide in what Nami almost thought could be fear, and its basket dropped uselessly to the ground. Sanji-kun bent to snatch it up quickly with one hand and darted back towards them, away from the new rush of enraged Nightmares in the second hall just around the corner, just as his _Diable Jambe_ finally began to fizzle out.

"Take him for a second," Chopper said frantically, and pushed the still-unconscious Zoro at Nami quickly before darting towards Sanji-kun. Nami yelped in surprise as the not-swordsman was shoved into her arms, and her knees buckled under the unexpected weight before she managed to recover and haul him back up; he drooped over her arms like a rag doll, legs dragging on the ground. Before she could question Chopper, the doctor had reached up to his back and pulled the largest and heaviest of Zoro's three swords free from their bindings.

That morning Brook had, as their only other swordsman, wrapped the black and red-sheathed swords with cord bindings to make them just as effective as the white sword, again to prepare for Zoro's hopeful recovery and aid in the Nightmare battle. Chopper whipped the black-sheathed sword free now and swung his arm around sharply—Sanji-kun ducked under his elbow as they passed each other—and with a roar the Heavy Point reindeer swung the sheathed sword like an old iron pole. The attack struck three of the attacking Nightmares. Two vanished on impact, while the third, a Shepherd, took a second hit before disappearing as well.

"I can hold for a bit!" Chopper yelled over his shoulder to them, as he lashed out again with his improvised sword-pole (Nami was for once thankful for Zoro's unconsciousness, just so he couldn't see how badly they were managing to treat his swords again). "Take care of Zoro, hurry!"

Sanji-kun staggered up to her by then, panting from his exertion but otherwise seeming no worse for the wear; he didn't appear to have taken any new injuries from his massive assault. With the doors to the Temple closed behind them, Chopper blocking the way in front, and Franky's group handling the other hallway, the were able to stand in a surprisingly abandoned section of the Temple, and it allowed both Nami and the cook to rest for a fraction of a second while Chopper kept their enemies at bay.

And she definitely needed it, Nami decided. Zoro was damned heavy and already straining at her arms. She dragged him over against one of the crystal walls, hesitated when she realized it might actually hurt him if the Nightmares couldn't touch it either, and finally laid him out on the stone floor instead. Sanji-kun grimaced in irritation at their not-swordsman (Nami suspected it was probably out of jealousy, as Zoro's head had lolled against her chest in unconsciousness when she moved him) but he began pawing through the basket in his hand after a moment, searching for its contents.

"There's nothing in here, Nami-san," he finally growled in frustration. "It was a waste...not that your plan wasn't brilliant!"

"It can't be empty," Nami said helplessly, and snatched the basket from his limp fingers. She clawed her own fingers through it as well, half flinching with the expectations of brushing against the intensity and intimacy of her nakama's dreams, but those powerful influences on her senses never came. Frantic, she tore the basket apart, searching for a hidden compartment or flap of some sort—she'd discovered them all the time, when she stole from rich, paranoid pirates, with gemstones sewn into the linings of their capes or extra coins snuck into secret pockets. But even when the basket was a shredded mess of broken reeds she found not a hint of glinting Dreamshards.

"Damn it!" she cursed in frustration, and flung the last torn bits of the basket from her fingers. Sanji-kun watched her anxiously, and from his defensive position Chopper inquired loudly as to what was going on, sounding worried. His concern snapped her back into focus, and she pressed her palms to her temples, trying to calm her roiling, anxious mind long enough to think.

"Okay," she said out loud, trying to organize her thoughts, "This is a setback, but it's not the end by far. There's still more. Maybe Franky's group got them, or maybe the Dreamshards are with the third Attendant that originally had them...the one I injured. We just have to find them and kill them, and the only way we can do that is to move forward." Taking a deep breath, she added, "Sanji-kun, can you help Chopper? We need to keep exploring, see if we can still find those Dreamshards."

"Of course, Nami-san," Sanji-kun said immediately. "Er, what about the marimo?"

"I'll drag him for a bit," the navigator said after a moment. "As long as he's using one of Zoro's swords, Chopper can kill the Harvesters and Shepherds faster than I can, and we need all the speed we can get. I'll follow after you guys, and swap with Chopper when he starts to get tired."

Sanji-kun nodded immediately and darted back to Chopper to help with their renewed assault, smashing into the creatures with another series of strong—but not nearly as strong as before—kicks that sent the creatures dissolving into mist. Nami noticed he didn't use his _Diable Jambe_ again, which was probably smart thinking on his part. Athough he could blast his way through the halls in a matter of seconds like that, it would wear him out quickly, and he might not have the energy for it if—or more likely when—they needed it later. Even without it he and Chopper were making good time, already beginning to smash their way through the swarms of newly arriving Nightmares. Nami set her jaw as she hooked her arms under Zoro's shoulders and heaved him up enough to pull him after the others, with his heels dragging along the floor. Hell, he was heavy...he would definitely owe her for this later.

They made decent time, pushing their way against the heavy stream of monsters down several more halls. Nami honestly had no idea where they were headed, although she tried to keep them on track, angling back towards the direction where that first door they had seen might have led to. It was largely guesswork, and several times they were forced to abandon trying hallways before they even turned down them; at the ends of the halls she always spotted broken down, crumbling remains of doors that had been blocked for good, just like the first one.

The hallways leading to these useless doors were often empty, or less populated than the others, and after a while Nami fell upon a new strategy: following the ever-present stream of Nightmares to wherever it might lead. Part of her mind _screamed_ that such a strategy was insane, a plan to obtain nothing but death. But a second part of her mind, one that had become more and more vocal since she joined the Straw Hat Pirates, observed quietly that it was the exact sort of insane plan Luffy himself might approve of. That voice won out, and so they turned another corner, and another, pushing their way still further into the Temple's confines, occasionally with Nami and Chopper switching places when the all-out assault became too tiring to handle. Sanji-kun, for his part, remained doggedly persistent, and though he was clearly tiring after the all-day assault he fought vigorously all the same, putting down more than his fare share of Nightmares as they attacked.

They had probably been forcing their way through the Temple of Dreams for at least half an hour—probably more, if Nami was honest with herself—when, without warning, the entire building began to shake. Nami was currently taking her turn fighting at the time, and staggered sideways as the floor shuddered beneath her. Only Sanji-kun's well placed kick kept her from being seized in an over-eager Harvester's jaws. She heard the cracking of stone above her, and dodged aside as some of the stone ceiling dropped from above towards friend and foe alike; out of the corner of her eye she saw Chopper curl himself protectively over the limp Zoro's head and chest.

And then she heard it. It was the strangest noise she had ever listened to—like the roar of a hungry animal, the hoarse call of carrion bird, a chorus of howling from a pack of wild dogs, the cold hiss of a snake, interspersed with hundreds, no, _thousands_ of weeping noises and desperate cries and pained screams that were unmistakably, unquestionably, _human_ in nature. It was all blurred together, enough that Nami could tell it certainly belonged to one creature alone. And yet at the same time she could clearly pick out each and every voice in that one unnatural cry, feel in her heart the very depths of despair, suffering, and loss that each individual voice shared. The hallway shook around them as the angry and sorrowful wail continued, one long, continuous call that she felt in her very bones, and she realized with a sudden twist of horror that it was the same sort of desperate scream she had heard emerge from the throats of Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and even Sanji-kun when their Dreamshards were stolen.

Whatever had made that sound was the origin of all the pain and suffering that had taken and killed this island. She knew, without a shred of doubt, that the thing that had made that cry was the Queen of the Night.

What she didn't know was _why_ it had made that call...but she had a distinct feeling they did not want to find out.

"Hurry!" she ordered frantically, and brought her Clima-Tact around yet again to smash into still another Nightmare's ugly head. Her arms were starting to get tired after the full-scale battle that had been going on for hours now, but after hearing that call and feeling its cold grip on her heart she knew, she _knew_, that they were running out of time. Luffy, Zoro and Robin still needed them, and they had to hurry. She could endure a little exhaustion and pain for them.

_A_ little_ exhaustion and pain_, the first little voice in her head seemed to shriek at her. _You're getting as bad as the Monster Trio, now! Look at you, you're a mess!_ Which was true: her wound on her arm from yesterday had probably opened up again, the way it was throbbing, and she had a dozen other minor gashes all over her arms and legs from her skirmishes throughout the day. She was bloody, bruised, her whole body ached from constant exertion, and her hands were still mildly numb from the _Thunderbolt Tempo_ outside and her improvised lighting rod earlier.

_But this is nothing compared to what Luffy will go through for you_, the other, crazier part of her said firmly. _What he_ has _gone through for you. This is nothing. This is worth it._

And it was.

So she fought harder, lashed out with the Clima-Tact again and again alongside Sanji-kun's flying kicks and Chopper's flailing punches, and they pushed through another hallway, and another, and another, following the endless stream of Nightmares to who only knew where. Until at last, unexpectedly, there was a doorway ahead down the hall that _wasn't_ demolished, that the Harvesters and Shepherds and even the occasional General streamed _from_, and Nami knew that the space on the other side of that door was the same one on the other side of the first door they'd encountered in this crystalline hellhole.

She knew there was something unspeakably evil on the other side of that door. She knew, somehow, that it was the same thing that had made that terrifying, loss-drenched cry, the thing that had caused this whole entire mess to begin with, and she knew that her every instinct was screaming at her to _run away, run away from it and never come back, don't let it see you, don't let it find you, don't let it take you_, and she could feel her whole body shivering in response to those instincts.

But she also knew they hadn't found her captain's Dreamshard yet, or their swordsman's, or their archaeologist's, and they were not leaving without those dreams intact. And she understood, with a sudden, sick twist in her gut, that the cry had been more than just an attempt to terrify them: it had been a challenge, a taunt. _I know what you want. I have what you want. Come take it from me, and I shall kill you._

Nami swallowed, and her trembling increased for a moment. But then she grit her teeth, shook her head in determination, and glared down the hallway at the door. "We need to go that way," she said, her voice intentionally flat as she did her best to keep it from betraying her trepidation.

Sanji-kun nodded. "I feel it too," he said simply. "One way or another, that's where this will end."

Chopper nodded as well, setting his face into a determined grimace. "The thing that did this to Zoro and the others is in there," he said in agreement. "We can get the Dreamshards back from it." And one enormous arm curled into a steel grip around their drooping, unconscious swordsman, refusing to let him be taken from them again.

"Right," Nami said. "Let's go then!" As one they threw themselves forward, fought their way brutally through the last stretch of hallway, and forced themselves, triumphantly, through the doorway into the space beyond.

And froze, staring in wide-eyed shock and horror at what lay on the other side.

The room they had entered was enormous and open. Nami guessed they easily could have fit the _Thousand Sunny_ in the space, and probably the _Going Merry_ beside it, while still having room for a few houses. As Nami suspected, the wide open space had probably been the center of worship within the Temple itself, and the gathering place for Oneirosa's thousands of citizens several centuries ago. The room had already been designed to hold that many people...and judging from the broken mess around the edges of the room, had probably been expanded upon even further by the destructive Nightmares as they carved their way ever outward. She could see walls torn down, doors collapsed, rooms gutted, second and third floors sagging as their stone walls and floors crumbled all round the exterior of the room, destroying the utter grandeur that the center-place of worship had no doubt once possessed. The only thing to still stand since it was originally founded was probably the enormous crystal dome above, the same one as the largest dome she and Sanji-kun had seen outside last night; it glittered brightly above, sending sprays of soft rainbows down upon the ground as if to reassure the people in the Temple.

Several hundred years ago, it had probably had a beautiful and calming effect, reassuring the inhabitants of Asteria Island that they would be okay and that their religious beliefs, whatever they were, were looking out for them. Not so now. The Temple of Dream's new inhabitants were monstrous, its old ones were dead, and the soothing colors and glittering light that came form above now seemed a mockery, exposing brilliantly the macabre expanse all around them.

The entire floor of the Temple of Dream's center, almost every square inch of it, was covered in bones. Nami was no doctor, and didn't even have Robin's archaeology skills to identify most of them, but all the same even she could see that the remains scattered around them were many and varied, both in type and in age. Right by her foot was something that looked distinctly like a human skull, still bleached white and relatively fresh looking, while not too far from Chopper she could see the dusty, faded remains of what looked like arm and hand bones so old she suspected they would crumble at the slightest touch. The bones weren't just human either. She saw the much smaller skeletons of what looked like the rodents and birds that had once lived on the island, and over in the far corner she saw what she swore had to be a giant's femur. Nothing, it seemed, was immune here, or safe from these terrible creatures. Any living thing that came to the island, whether on purpose or by shipwreck, through birth or through travel, was destined to die at the claws, fangs, and intimate thefts of the Nightmares.

And as if in testament to these hundreds, if not thousands, of unrecognized deaths, there were Dreamshards.

Thousands of the miraculous shards filled the room, and Nami's jaw dropped at the sight of them, even now, even knowing what each shard meant for each and every being those bones had belonged to. The Dreamshards studded virtually every surface in the enormous, carved-out room; they were buried in the walls and broken pillars like decorations, piled in glittering mounds among the bones like trophies. Each and every Dreamshard appeared exactly as the ones back on Adamantina had: glowing with a myriad of colors as the sun struck them, flickering through the spectrum of light with such speed it was almost impossible to watch any single one of them for long. But none of them glowed with an inner light of their own, and Nami realized after a moment that every single one of these Dreamshards was dead, and every single one of their owners had died helpless, hopeless, never destined to remember, much less achieve, their own personal goals and dreams.

It was a sickening thought, to realize so many people had met such a disgusting end, worse than death. To think these vicious, despicable creatures had uncaringly destroyed so many lives, so many hopes, for the sake of their own hunger and greed.

But worst of all, even worse than that single thought, was the _thing_ that sat in the middle of the hollowed out Temple of Dreams.

It perched like a hungry spider in the web on top of an enormous pile of ancient remains. The rubble of the broken bits of the Temple had been swept together with heaps of bones and hundreds of glittering Dreamshards, creating a twisted nest of destruction and misery. At first Nami thought it was a shadow: an enormous blob of a shadow, approximately the size of maybe two giants. But the light cast down from the ancient crystal dome was all wrong to create a shadow of that size, and after a moment she realized it was more than just an absence of light; it was _alive_, in the most twisted sense of the word.

There was no real sense of a shape to the creature at all. She could see dozens of limbs extending from it, in all the wrong places. There were insectoid, spider-like legs emerging from what she thought might be its back, twisted black wings with dying feathers emerging from its chest in entirely the wrong way to be of any use, writhing squid arms where legs should have been, strange human hands with reversed joints that looked broken and useless, animal legs with claws in all the anatomically incorrect places. It had faces too, far too many faces to ever be considered natural; she could see the glittering eyes of humans and cats and insects and snakes and wolves and other things she couldn't identify, staring at her from the thing's legs and wings and body even though it had no discernible head to speak of. It was a disgusting, blob-like mass of shadowy _parts_ that came together into a mass of a hundred-thousand terrifying images...and, Nami realized with horror, it kept _shifting,_ always changing, like it was made out of some strange, shadowy, viscous material that held together unnaturally against the very laws of nature. Even as she watched, several of the legs and a single wing melded seamlessly back into the body, and many of the glittering, watching eyes closed and winked out. Moments later new eyes formed in other places, and new limbs formed elsewhere. She saw different animal legs now, and hands with too many fingers, and a thick scorpion tail that sprouted from just behind the brand new formation of what looked vaguely like a human skull.

"Stolen," came a rasping, shaky voice from behind them, and Nami, Sanji-kun, and Chopper jumped and spun to face the noise. It was Zoro, still slung protectively over one of Chopper's large shoulders. His eyes were open now, and he was barely conscious, or maybe not even conscious at all anymore; he had the same glassy-eyed, unaware look that Luffy had possessed since the moment his Dreamshard was taken. Their not-swordsman was speaking now, in a harsh, rasping voice that sounded so utterly small and weak it was _wrong,_ and that made it all the more terrifying. "Stolen, stolen, stolen...she took it from me...and now she'll feed well...no hope when it's gone, only despair, only fear..."

_She took it from me...Only despair...only fear..._

"Oh, God," Nami whispered suddenly, as she turned back to stare at the monstrous creature before them. It seemed utterly unconcerned, and even the Harvesters and Shepherds and Generals surrounding it had frozen, no longer bothering to attack them. It didn't care. It didn't fear them. It knew _they_ would fear _it,_ and it welcomed that, because it was hungry. And in that sudden moment, Nami knew what it—no, _she_—really was.

"A nightmare can be anything," Sanji-kun muttered softly from beside her. He, too, was staring up at the enormous, constantly shifting creature, his one visible eye wide, looking utterly dazed. "Everyone fears something different. Everyone dreams of different things, and everyone is visited by a different nightmare in the night..."

"And the strongest one would be anything and everything," Nami concluded, feeling the wave of dread emanating from the creature.

"The Queen of the Night," Chopper whispered, and the three of them stared up at the creature that had single-handedly caused the destruction of Asteria Island—and soon, most likely, the Straw Hat Pirates as well.

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><p>Wuh-oh. That's probably not good, amirite?<p>

**Please note** that from here on out updates might be a little slower (off by a day or so). Don't worry, this fic will be finished; I 100% guarantee it. However I _am_ starting the** National Novel Writing Month** (NaNoWriMo) challenge as of November 1st, and will be dedicating most of my writing and editing skills to that, so please be patient! :)

And now I'm off to watch my _other_ favorite singing skeleton, the Pumpkin King Jack Skellington. :D

~VelkynKarma


	17. Queen

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part seventeen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Holy crap. I didn't realize it earlier, but the last chapter I posted put my official overall word count on this site at over half a million. That's pretty snazzy if I do say so myself.

**Note the Second:** A lot of you guys wanted a sketch of the Queen of the Night! All I can say is, she kinda...doesn't stay in any one form for long, she shifts all the time. I don't know how to draw it for you XD If anyone else is up to the challenge, feel free to draw your interpretation, though!

**Music Box:** Technically, this is already the theme music for another character in a different series, since it plays whenever she does _very evil things._ However, I pretty much listened to it any time I wrote a Nightmare-related scene at all, and repeatedly when I wrote ol' Queenie here, so I figure I might as well share it with you guys.  
>www (dot) youtube (dot) com (slash) watch?v=hg9XPcPKYAQ<br>Incidentally this is also my favorite arc music of the whole series...does this make me evil?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"The Revenge of Hell boils in my Heart,<br>Death and Despair blaze all around me!...  
>Cast off forever, abandoned forever,<br>Broken forever are all bonds of Nature."  
>~Queen of the Night, <em>The Magic Flute<em>

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><p>Nami stared up and up and up at the Queen of the Night, frozen in place, unsure what to do, what to say, what to even <em>think.<em> The cheerful light cast from the dome above flickered over her, and the Dreamshards buried in the walls and piled on the floor sent beautiful rainbows dancing around the Straw Hats in a most reassuring way. And yet, the navigator felt nothing but dread as she stood inside the massive Temple of Dreams.

This was it. It was over. The Queen of the Night was too enormous, too powerful. Nami could feel how evil she was even yards away from her, could feel how utterly unconcerned the enormous creature was with them. For all the attempts of its hundreds of children to stop them, the Queen did not care if they came to her; because the Queen knew they would never recover what she had stolen, that they had only delivered her meals to her themselves.

The Queen of the Night, ancient and wise as she was, knew she had already won.

Zoro was still muttering behind Nami, on Chopper's shoulder, and the navigator realized with a sickening twist in her gut that he, too, was being heavily affected by the presence of the creature. Much like the terror-calls outside, it seemed those that were dreamless were heavily susceptible to the Queen of the Night's near-palpable aura of fear. And even though Zoro was one of the bravest people Nami knew (or perhaps just the craziest, but ultimately it was all the same), he was already regressing to the same eerie, trance-like ranting state that seemed to affect all the dreamless pirates at night.

In the sudden silence that had taken over the room, Nami realized that the not-swordsman's muttering sounded far too loud—and, worse, that it had drawn attention to their small group. With a sound much like wet cloth being dragged over gravel, the Queen of the Night extended dozens of its mismatched, badly placed limbs down to its nest of rubble, bones, and dead Dreamshards, and laboriously began turning itself to face them. It was still shifting constantly, loosing limbs that were suddenly replaced by new arms and legs and tails, and didn't appear to have a discernible front or back, and yet Nami knew that it was turning to gaze at them head-on all the same. As it moved she could hear a ragged, drawing hiss, as though the creature was breathing in deeply despite having no visible nose or mouth to speak of, and it seemed to swell slightly as it did so.

Sanji-kun was rigid beside her, but without warning he stepped forward slightly, putting himself in front of Nami and Chopper as he did so. "It's feeding," the cook said suddenly, glaring hatefully at the enormous creature ahead of them. His breathing was far too quick to be natural, and clearly the Queen's aura was forcing him to feel fear as well, but his clenched fists also said he was angry. "On Zoro. Stupid shitty Night Queen!"

"But...But I've got Zoro!" Chopper protested, looking anxious. "They haven't taken him, I won't let them!" He clenched his supportive hand more insistently over the unconscious Zoro's back, pressing him even further into his large, furry shoulder. Zoro did not stop ranting.

"Robin-chan translated it for us ages ago, in Remia," Sanji-kun said grimly. " _'She created Harvesters, capable of culling the herds of their dreams, stealing them away and taunting them to her for her to feed upon their fear and their despair.'_ We even guessed at it a little, but...shit, this isn't good."

"We can't fight that thing!" Nami yelped, staring up in horror at the Queen of the Night. It was still turning towards them, still breathing deeply, swelling further like a person holding their breath, and Nami was beginning to think Sanji-kun was right. It looked like it was sniffing appreciatively, and maybe it _was_ feeding off the empty, purposeless void left in Zoro's very existence when his World's Greatest Swordsman dream was taken. His ranting certainly was becoming increasingly more frantic, and that couldn't be a mere coincidence. The creature never once bothered to approach them, and was careful to remain sitting in her macabre nest, brushing scattered bones and dead Dreamshards back into place with her twisted extra limbs; but if she could feed even at this distance, why would she ever bother to move at all?

"If we don't, Zoro's going to die!" Chopper shot back frantically, his voice high-pitched with fear. Nami didn't have the heart to tell him that they were probably _all_ going to die at this rate. This thing was just as daunting as Oars back on Thriller Bark—maybe even more so. At least Oars' personality had still been Luffy's, straightforward and simple, while this _thing_ exuded little more than pure terror and killing intent. It had taken all of them to beat the enormous zombie, with everyone at the top of their game. Now Luffy, Robin and Zoro were completely useless in a fight, and half of their crew wasn't even here. Sanji-kun might stand a chance for a little while, if he was lucky and didn't have to worry about protecting Nami and Chopper (unlikely), but she doubted he could take the thing down by himself, either.

She bit her lip and hoped fervently that Franky, Brook, and Usopp had managed to survive and would turn back, taking Luffy and Robin with them. There was no way any of them would survive this, and at the very least she didn't want their captain's and archaeologist's emptiness and despair being _fed_ on in the last moments of their life. It would be too cruel a way for them to go.

Her hopes were in vain. As if thinking about them alone had triggered it, Nami was suddenly aware of a faint trace of music. It sounded as though it was coming from very far away, sluggish and muffled, but it grew increasingly louder as the moments passed, and the navigator realized that the rest of her nakama were coming to their deaths as well. Frantic, she tried to scream a sharp warning to _turn back now,_ but it was too late. On the other side of the enormous room, just barely visible around the Queen of the Night's enormous bulk, several Harvesters and Shepherds vanished in a burst of oily smoke. Seconds later the rest of her nakama surged into the room, plank, kabuto, and violin at the ready.

With a wince she saw the same expressions of shock and horror bleed onto the faces of the three pirates that still had their dreams as they saw the thing they faced. Franky looked outright stunned, Usopp was shaking so hard Nami could see his limbs trembling from where she was standing, and Brook was so startled his wild violin playing ground to an abrupt, screeching halt in the face of such an enormous, terrifying foe.

And worse still were Luffy and Robin. Even from here Nami could hear her captain. He wasn't merely muttering weakly under his breath like Zoro was. Rather, like back in Oneirosa's streets during the terror-calls, he was screaming loudly about the _something_ that had been stolen from him, how it would never be given back, and Nami could see one of Franky's fists fastened tightly over the sling's bindings to combat Luffy's maddened thrashing. And Robin drooped like a rag doll, corpselike in appearance; at some point during their fight either Franky or Usopp had managed to engineer a harness with leftover _Sunny_ parts to allow Usopp to piggyback the historian while still giving himself use of both arms for sniping. From here Nami couldn't hear her mutterings, although the navigator was sure they were there, but she _could_ see the empty, hopeless expression on the archaeologist's face as it drooped on Usopp's shoulder.

Nami grit her teeth. If Luffy and Robin were still dreamless, it meant that the Attendant Franky's team had been after hadn't had the Dreamshards, either. There was only one of the basket-carrying creatures left, but Nami was beginning to think they would never be able to find it now, not with the Queen of the Night before them. The situation was hopeless...and judging by the expressions on her nakama's faces across the way, they were rapidly coming to accept that fact, too.

Silence reigned. Brook's violin made not a sound, and neither did the dozens of Nightmares all around the room; even the click-clack of mandibles and rustle of legs was strangely absent. Stillness reigned as well. The Nightmares did not so much as shuffle or blink, and the Straw Hats remained frozen by their doorways. Only Zoro's continual muttering, and Luffy's outright screaming, broke the terrifying stalemate.

In that moment the Queen of the Night moved. She shifted her massive bulk, waved her dozens of mismatched, anatomically incorrect limbs, and seemed pleased with the unexpected arrival of five more humans into the heart of her nest. As before, she laboriously began to turn on her pile of bones and rubble, very careful not to leave its confines, sweeping everything back into place as she turned to face the new Straw Hats.

Too late, Nami realized Franky's team had not one, but _two_ dreamless pirates, and the Queen of the Night would have twice as much to feed off of. Sure enough, the creature's strange rasping sniff began again, and once more the enormous bloated bag of mismatched limbs began to swell; Robin sagged further, and Luffy's now-hoarse screaming grew worse.

Nami opened her mouth to yell at Franky to take them and run, to drag Luffy and Robin and the others back to the _Thousand Sunny_ and just sail and sail and keep sailing until they were gone. They might not have their dreams, but maybe they could teach Luffy to have his dream again, or find some other way to fix it—there had to be another way after all—

And then she saw it. It had been indistinguishable at first, hidden in the dark shadows of the Queen of the Night, but as the enormous creature finished turning there was the briefest glint of unnatural light in that blackness. Squinting her eyes, Nami focused as hard as she could to make out that shape—and saw the final Attendant, the same one she had fought yesterday because it was missing one whiplike limb. The basket it held was gleaming brightly from within.

That was it. Right there, not even fifty yards away in that dark basket, was what they had risked so much for: the Dreamshards of her crew, the very gems that would save them and make them _real_ and _whole_ again. It was truly, cruelly unfair that after all these hours of combat, after _days_ of struggling to help their nakama, that they would finally find what they were looking for in the very shadow of the creature that was probably going to kill them all.

But that crazy little voice in the back of her head, the same one that supported the wild maneuvers that even Luffy would approve of, reared up again. _If we're going to die anyway, better to go down fighting than cowering in terror._ Maybe, just maybe, they could get a hold of those Dreamshards, and maybe if they did something would change. So she forced her frozen, trembling limbs to obey her and pointed at the Attendant, saying, "Sanji-kun, Chopper, look!"

They both squinted in confusion at where she pointed. Nami couldn't blame them; the dark shadow-like substance of the Attendant against the dark viscous material of the Queen of the Night practically blended the two together, making them difficult to pick apart. But after a moment Sanji-kun's one visible eye widened and he hissed sharply, "Is that—"

The Queen of the Night pushed itself up with its multitude of ever-changing, mismatched limbs, and screamed.

It was the same challenging call as before, consisting of hundreds of terrifying animal cries and thousands of despair-filled human screams, and this time Nami did not wonder for an instant how the Queen of the Night was able to make such a noise, or what it was for. Almost as one the Harvesters, Shepherds, and Generals around her raised their voices to join her own, a cacophony of shrieks, barks, and rumbling hisses as they shifted and stamped and clicked in an unnatural display of unison. With a lurch in her stomach Nami was suddenly reminded of the hive-mind that ants or bees were said to possess, and had a feeling she understood the puzzling 'heart-mind' phrase Robin had decoded two days ago (had it really been that long already?) Then the creatures swiveled and, with fierce, screeching battle cries, they charged.

Nami took an automatic step back as the Nightmares plowed towards them, raising her Clima-Tact instinctually in defense. There were still a lot of Nightmares ahead to defeat. _We've done it before_ the crazy voice insisted, but there were just so many, too many, and the numbers were overwhelming even if you _didn't_ count the massive, bloated creature sitting in the middle of the room—

The creature in question had sprouted more limbs now, long, gangly ones that would reach the doors without the creature ever having to move from the safety of its nest, limbs that looked vaguely familiar; there were a pair of crooked human-like hands that sported ten long swordlike fingers, an arm that looked oddly mechanical, and several other bony, ripped protrusions that could have belonged to a living corpse. These stretched out, thin and brittle, and slashed down at Franky, Usopp, Brook, and their dreamless burdens. The three of them dodged aside with yells of panic, dragging the bound-up Luffy and Robin with them, and somehow in the confusion Brook managed to raise his bow to his violin and begin playing once more.

The music sent a shiver up Nami's spine as it bounced and echoed around the wide room eerily, and she felt an unexpected warmth move through her whole body, like sitting in front of a crackling fire after being outside in the snow and the cold for hours on end. With a shock she realized she'd been suffering the effects of a terror-call, much like the ones the Harvesters had used on them so many times now...but the Queen of the Night had never made such an attack!

Or had it? Bewildered, Nami suddenly realized that the bloated creature's almost tangible aura of fear was far more subtle than she had originally realized. Unlike the Harvester's heavy-handed, brute-force manipulation of her emotions, actively dragging terrifying and sorrow-filled feelings and memories forward, the Queen of the Night instead seemed to manipulate the emotions that were already there. The despair, terror, and helplessness Nami had felt the entire time they had been attacking Oneirosa had been strong, but relatively easy for her to force to the back of her mind when she thought of what was at stake. Yet the Queen had somehow managed to take those already-existing emotions and thoughts and amplify them considerably, until Nami had been ready to give up without a second's thought. Such powerful manipulation, all without her ever realizing it _was_ manipulation...truly this creature was more dangerous than she'd first thought.

But Brook's music had freed her from that, and she could see Sanji-kun and Chopper looking startled as they, too, recovered their senses and were freed from the heart-chilling effects of the Queen of the Night. As the Harvesters, Shepherds and even a few Generals charged straight for them, Chopper shook his head and yelled, "Not yet, not while we still have a chance!" And securing Zoro more firmly on his shoulder, he reached into his pocket and pulled free one of his Rumble Balls, popping it into his mouth with a crunch and a roar of _"Rumble! Jumping Point!"_

Chopper's much taller new form leapt high into the air as the wave of Nightmares hit them, and Sanji-kun hastily snatched Nami up in his arms and did the same, though he couldn't jump quite as high. The assortment of mismatched creatures crashed past where they had been, slid to a stop, and waited hungrily for their prey to drop.

Chopper gave them what they were waiting for, though not quite as expected. He switched back to Heavy Point, increasing his weight considerably, and dropped past Sanji-kun and Nami as they reached the height of the cook's jump. The currently human reindeer slung Zoro around his neck like an old fur scarf, drew both his sailcloth-wrapped fists back, and slammed them downward with full force at the Harvester and Shepherd he'd been about to land on.

The creatures vanished with surprised screeches into wisps of smoke, and Chopper landed in the middle of the rest of the swarm on the one patch of floor not taken by the hellish creatures. Too fast for Nami to follow, the doctor laid Zoro out on the shattered bones and with a roar of _"Horn Point!"_ shifted again, crouching forward over the not-swordsman as he gained much thicker shoulders and arms and enormous, spiny, sailcloth-wrapped horns.

He looked like an enraged bull ready to charge, and as Sanji-kun and Nami descended he did just that. _"Roseo Colonnade!"_ he screamed, and hurled himself forward into the mass of surprised Nightmares, tossing his head and bringing his massive, dream-enhanced rack of horns to bear. Harvesters and Shepherds were tossed, screeching and barking, into the air and vanished in bursts of flames, and others vanished at the heavy impacts. Nami was impressed to see even a General thrown wide before it burst into smoke, twisting in pain.

Sanji-kun landed over Zoro as they came down, careful (for once) to not actually step on the not-swordsman, and set Nami down gently on the stone. By then Chopper had run two full, increasingly larger circles around the unconscious Zoro in his Horn Point, driving back hordes of Nightmares and clearing out a small space for them to make their counterattack from. Panting slightly, the reindeer nevertheless leapt over to join them, shifting forms with a quick _"Arm Point"_ as he came to stand defensively near their still-ranting not-swordsman.

The Nightmares paused only briefly after Chopper's onslaught before beginning to shuffle forward again, fangs, claws and scythes gleaming; the attack had barely deterred them at all. Gritting his teeth, Chopper said, "You guys go after the Dreamshards!"

"What? We can't leave you alone," Nami began, bringing her Clima-Tact smashing down on the head of an unlucky Harvester. Beside her, Sanji-kun's legs kicked out wildly, sending another pair of Shepherds to their deaths.

"I'll be fine!" Chopper insisted. "I'll find a corner where I can keep up a solid defense and protect Zoro until you get his Dreamshard back. Hurry, we don't have much time!"

Nami bit her lip again for a moment, but then nodded. Zoro could be a very helpful addition to the fight, and once his Dreamshard was back they wouldn't have to babysit him anymore, freeing up their ability to fight back and help Franky's group on the other side. "Okay," she said, "But give me that, quick," and pointed at Zoro's white sword, still tied with the other two on Chopper's back.

The reindeer let fly with a hoofed punch that sent another Nightmare bursting into flames, and then gave her a surprised look. "Zoro's sword? Why?"

"I'll have to steal the basket," Nami said. "It'll take up one hand, and I need two to use the Clima-Tact. I can beat the Nightmares off with Zoro's sword in one hand if I have to, and if I remember right that one's the lightest."

"I won't let them get near you, Nami-san!" Sanji-kun swore. Nami was sure he would do his best, but privately decided a backup plan wouldn't hurt. Chopper seemed to understand and tossed her the white sword quickly, sheath and all. She shoved it through her belt at the small of her back, where she normally stored the Clima-Tact pieces when she wasn't using them, and nodded.

"Right. Be careful, Chopper! We'll be back fast, I promise. I'm a very skilled thief." She flashed him a far-more-confident-than-she-felt smile, and the reindeer nodded, shifting back to Horn Point quickly. Another use of his _Roseo Colonnade_ sent more of the creatures reeling and sent an obscuring smoke into the dusty air, and both parties took advantage of the cover and the confusion to make a break for it.

Nami and Sanji-kun moved quickly now, carving their way through the hordes of Nightmares before the creatures could spot them in the haze of smoke and reorient themselves. They charged straight at the towering, bulbous mass of the Queen of the Night, and Nami was screaming to herself that _this was insane and they were going to die,_ over and over. But they were going to die anyway, and she'd be damned if she'd go down without a fight, so she kept charging and swinging out with her Clima-Tact and wishing deep in the back of her mind that she had never, ever laid eyes on those dead Dreamshards back on Adamantina Island.

The Queen of the Night let out another wild scream, this one higher-pitched, more feral sounding, its human voices more enraged than before. Nami realized with a horrified start that it was still furiously attacking the rest of her nakama even from afar in its nest, and she could hear screams of pain and terror from her friends as they were boxed in by the attacking Nightmares and threatened by the Queen's enormous limbs. It was hard to see around the great creature's bulk, but looking up Nami could see something that looked oddly like an arm made of barbed wire sprouting from its back. It stretched out, its joints brittle as it reached its limit, but when her arm dropped down to slap at the ground and Franky's team it was stunningly fast for such an otherwise lumbering creature, and it was all they could do to dodge. Another limb, this one looking for all the world like it was built out of hundreds of razor blades, sprouted from what might have been the Queen of the Night's side as the barbed-wire arm withdrew and vanished, and that too came chopping down at the Straw Hats with shocking speed. It was only thanks to Brook's music, which stunned the additional Nightmares and made them temporarily harmless in their frozen state, that they were able to skirt around the creatures and dodge the Queen's attacks at all.

"Sanji-kun, they're in trouble!" Nami yelled. "That thing has them completely blocked in, they'll be killed if they don't get any help!"

"You're right, Nami-san," the cook agreed, but then hesitated. "But will you be safe without me?" He looked genuinely concerned, torn between his very real desire to protect the women of the crew in particular, and the crew in general.

"I'll be fine," Nami said immediately. "I can take on Nightmares, but there's no way I can help against the Queen of the Night." And then, just to clear up any doubts the cook might have, she added quickly, "Robin, on the other hand, can't even defend herself, and she's still out cold—"

"Ah...Robin-chan!" Sanji-kun gasped, and nodded. "Right, then that shitty Night Queen is going down! Please be careful, Nami-san, I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you." She nodded even as she smacked another approaching Shepherd with her staff once, and again to kill it.

Slightly reassured, Sanji-kun spun rapidly in place, once again funneling heat downward as he moved, and slid to a halt with his right leg once again ignited. He leapt forward, over the crowds of Nightmares onto a low-hanging limb attached to the Queen of the Night's ugly body, and leap-frogged his way up from there, often balancing precariously on rapidly vanishing limbs just long enough to make the next jump forward. Nami saw him vanish over the rise of the creature's bloated back out of her peripheral as she fought her way forward, and although she didn't see his next attack, she did hear him yell _"Flambage Shot!"_ and saw the gout of flames come rolling over the creature's sides.

The Queen of the Night screamed, this time in what was obviously pain, its thousands of voices rising in ear-bleeding agonized _shrieks_ as the powerful dream-enhanced attack struck it. The bloated body reared back and bucked slightly, twisting into a more humanoid shape for half a dozen seconds, and Nami vaguely thought she saw something glinting beneath its belly. But before she could investigate further she heard Sanji-kun yelling in pain from above as the creature turned its ill-formed, mismatched limbs on him and attacked.

Nami grit her teeth together, but held her focus, and turned her eyes away from the towering form of the Queen of the Night. She had to trust that Sanji-kun could take care of the others, and himself. She could already see Franky, Usopp, and Brook scattering thanks to Sanji-kun's timely intervention, and hopefully he would be able to distract the creature long enough for them to succeed. And in order to achieve that success, she had her own work to do. Eyes narrowed, she set her gaze on the final Attendant hiding in its mistress' shadow, and charged.

The creature saw her coming, and backed further into the shadow that its Queen cast over it, wiggling and flailing frantically as she closed in. It released the same high, piercing whistle she had heard it make several times now when calling the other Nightmares, and right on cue several of the hellish creatures stormed into her path, raising claws and scythes menacingly.

A day ago she would have fled. But now she was _mad,_ and these unforgivable _things_ were standing between her and some of the most precious gemstones she had ever laid eyes on, and she was not going to stand for that. "Better look out," she growled as she rushed forward, shifting the Clima-Tact into position. "I hear there's a strong gust coming. _Cyclone Tempo!_"

She hurled her weapon, and the resulting wind blast cleared her path of most of the creatures, sending them scattering to the left and right. She snatched the connected Cool and Heat poles from the air as it snapped back to her wrist, and then took a leaf from Sanji-kun's book: crouching, she leapt onto the back of one of the few Harvesters that hadn't been scattered, and vaulted off its back straight towards the final Attendant, reconnecting her Clima-Tact as she did so.

The Attendant made another trilling whistle that Nami was sure was the equivalent of a frantic scream, and it slithered aside as she struck out with her _Sunny_-enhanced weapon. Its one remaining whiplike limb twitched as though it wished to strike out and defend itself, but it held itself back. That limb was the only one left the creature had to hold the dark basket and its glowing stolen treasures within, and to strike would be to willingly hand them over. It turned to glide away towards the nearest Shepherd, basket extended as far away from Nami as it could manage. But by then it was too late, and Nami was charging towards it again over the bones and dead dreams of hundreds of other lost, forgotten souls, Clima-Tact drawn back to swing.

"Those aren't yours," she snarled angrily. "Those are the most precious, most important belongings of the Straw Hat Pirates, and I will never, _ever_ let you have them!" The Clima-Tact struck true, and the dream-wrapped Thunder pole cracked into the whiplike creature's small, fragile head. Its high-pitched death shriek was painful so close, and Nami half expected her ears to start bleeding, but she'd willingly go deaf for the chance to steal those three gems back from the creature. Then it vanished, basket dropping uselessly through the air, and with a lunge Nami reached out and snatched the handle, bringing it protectively close to her chest.

They were there. All three of the Dreamshards were there, glowing brilliantly from their own inner light source, flashing through colors so fast it was almost mesmerizing to watch them. Each one was larger than Sanji-kun's had been, and in the darkness the basket cast on it's confines they looked almost suppressed, like not even their full brilliance was being permitted to escape.

Her nakama's dreams. To find the True History, to be the World's Greatest Swordsman. To find the One Piece, and be King of the Pirates. They were all here, finally, after so long, and seeing them gathered together like this made her unexpectedly possessive, protective, of them. She'd rather die then let those disgusting creatures have them again; she'd willingly face an army of the creatures if it meant keeping these three little gems out of their claws. Was this how Luffy felt, every time he collected a new crew member, when he accepted their ambitions, crazy as they might seem, without hesitation? Was this how he felt when someone slighted his crew's dreams, when he defended them so furiously, so unhesitatingly, against whatever challenges came their way?

She didn't know. But she did know what _she_ felt was absolutely the truth, and she was not releasing these Dreamshards again for anything until they were back with the people they belonged to or she was dead. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she gripped the basket's handle in her teeth long enough to holster the Clima-Tact and pull Zoro's shining white katana from her belt, sheath and all. Then she hugged the reed basket close to her chest, turned to face the screaming, enraged Nightmares, and leapt off the edge of the Queen of the Night's nest into their midst.

She made towards Chopper and Zoro, backed into a corner of rubble not too far from the doorway they'd come through earlier. The doctor and his charge were closest, and even with her newfound determination to protect the Dreamshards to the death Nami was still operating within the bounds of reason. There was no way she could force her way through the massive numbers of stronger Nightmares and around the Queen of the Night herself to Franky, Usopp, Brook, and their two dreamless charges on her own. But with Chopper's help, and Zoro's—minimal as it might be after being dreamless for so long—her chances would improve considerably.

So Nami made her way with all the agility and skill she possessed as a thief towards Chopper and their downed not-swordsman. Fighting was no longer imperative. Every second she took to beat in the head of a Shepherd or a Harvester with Zoro's sword was another second the creatures had to steal back the Dreamshards clutched tight to her chest, and she was not giving them that option. Maybe she couldn't protect them the way Luffy or Zoro or Sanji-kun might, by mercilessly beating down anything that tried to get in the way, but she had her own skills and her own ways to help her nakama, and she was going to do her damned best at it. The Shepherds sliced at her, the Harvesters snatched at her, but Nami was clever and quick from her days of stealing from pirates and darting through crowds. She ducked under their scythe arms and dodged their grasping mandibles, and if one came too close she lashed out viciously with the sheathed white katana, sending them smoking to their deaths.

But they were getting smarter. She was still too far from Chopper's admirable defense—he was in Heavy Point now, Rumble Ball long since finished off, swinging out with Zoro's two remaining sheathed swords to keep his little corner clear while the not-swordsman sat sprawled against the wall behind him. The doctor was doing well, but not well enough that he could come to her aid, and the creatures seemed to know it as well. Leering evilly, the creatures knotted before her, blocking her way to Chopper's corner with such a thick gathering of Harvesters there would be no way for her to dodge through them, and there were too many for her to take on alone without risking the basket and its precious cargo clutched to her chest.

_If only Sanji-kun were here_...but he wasn't, and wouldn't get there in time even if he wanted to and understood the danger she was in. She could still hear the wild, fear-drenched screams of the Queen of the Night behind her, and knew Sanji-kun was fighting for his own life and the lives of half of her crew mates against the thing, trying to buy them time.

_If only Chopper could get away!_ she thought next, as she charged ever closer to the wall of Harvesters; she couldn't stop moving, or the ones behind her would seize her as well. But the doctor couldn't leave his place to help her without risking Zoro, vulnerable as he was, and—

Realization dawning, eyes widening, she stuffed Zoro's white katana under one arm and plunged her newly freed hand into the basket.

She knew it was going to burn after her experience with Sanji-kun's Dreamshard, but apparently the sensation increased considerably with more than just one of the gems. Her eyes watered in pain as her hand almost immediately felt like it was catching fire, and she grit her teeth to keep from screaming. She mentally prepared herself for whatever she was going to feel from the Dreamshard's contents, too, and yet even so she wasn't ready for the sheer _strength_ and _power_ that flooded into her senses as she touched them. The sensations of not one, but _three_, extremely powerful lifelong dreams hit her in the head like a mental _Gomu Gomu no Bazooka_, and she rocked to the side despite herself, stumbling from the shock. She recovered quickly and hastily withdrew her hand, panting hard.

But for all that she still didn't know which Dreamshard was which, and she was rapidly getting closer to the Harvester wall. Grimacing again, she plunged her hand once more into the basket and gripped each of the shining gems individually, apologizing profusely to the three dreamless pirates for delving intimately into the depths of their souls.

Luffy's was the first one she grabbed; the sensation was unmistakable, could be nobody but her captain. Unlike Sanji-kun's dream, she wasn't assailed by scents or images. Instead, raw, undiluted _feeling_ hit her instead, so powerful she almost stumbled again. It was pure determination, pure ideal, so strong it was almost tangible, and it felt almost too solid, too _real,_ to be a mere dream. She had always wondered how Luffy could state with such certainty that he _was_ going to be the Pirate King, not that he _wanted to be_ one—but if this was what filled his heart every second of every day, then it was no wonder he was so positive about his goal. Such strength of mind felt...reassuring, familiar, and to Nami it almost felt like Luffy was running right alongside her, cheering her on, giving her strength, even though she knew deep down that it was _because_ of this very gem in her hands that he needed _her_ help, and not the other way around. She murmured a quick thanks to her captain—almost instinctively she felt that Luffy wouldn't really mind that she had touched upon his dream so closely—and dropped the shard back in the basket, picking up the next one.

This one was almost certainly Robin's, she knew, bare seconds after touching it. Horrible images invaded her mind as she grasped the next one in her palm, memories of destruction and fear and constant betrayal. But there was a determined link between all of those, a rock-steady drive to achieve, to find, to explore, to discover, and always when those horrible images returned that determination resurfaced, stronger than before. Nami could feel growth, strength, and near ruthless determination held together with cool, calm logic, and tied still further with vast stores of _information._ Catalogues upon catalogues of information poured into Nami's head, and for a moment she felt like she understood everything about how the world worked, could find her new memories interpreting her old ones from a new view, even translating the odd characters she had seen in Oneirosa for her. This was a dream that kept rebuilding itself, fixing itself, strengthening itself, no matter how many times one tried to beat it down, that endured even after twenty years of horror. Nami grit her teeth, feeling more than a little sick at the invasion of privacy but also proud of her roommate's strong ambition, and dropped this Dreamshard as well.

That made the last the one that she was looking for, and she snatched it up quickly, drawing it free from the basket. She didn't want to pry into Zoro's mind any further than necessary, either, especially considering how close-mouthed he was about his past, but it was impossible to block out the memories that assailed her senses. She was surprised at how much there _was._ She didn't peg Zoro as a sensory person, but she could hear the constant clang of steel or swish of bamboo training swords, smell the sweat and the blood as she struggled, feel the soreness in her muscles as she pushed herself just a little bit further, the agony of deep-biting wounds and—worse still—of defeat, the satisfaction of winning and growing stronger. Blanketing all of it was something deeper; something sturdy as a rock, brutally determined, surprisingly disciplined, and recklessly stubborn, a mesh of values that felt very familiar and exactly like him. And even deeper than that something churned below the surface, a face that was oddly familiar, like Nami herself had seen it before, and a vow fueled by intense rage and raw, powerful sorrow—

_I don't want to see this anymore!_ Nami shrieked inside her own head, and out loud she screamed, "Chopper, this is Zoro's, catch it!" and hurled the glittering Dreamshard as far as she could.

It arced over the startled Harvesters, shining brightly in the light of the crystal dome above, and Nami hoped desperately that her gamble had been worth it. Every instinct of hers screamed that it was a foolish thing to do. Even her treasure-hunting senses were _screaming_ at her that hurling something so valuable away like that was a foolish waste. But she was out of time, and wouldn't be able to protect all the Dreamshards at all, the way things were going. Better for at least one of their nakama to get theirs back.

The creatures screamed angrily now. Some turned to follow the glittering Dreamshard, but most turned on her, their multitudes of glittering eyes burning with hate. With a fierce glare of determination Nami turned on her heels and darted sideways, trying to outrun the creatures, run somewhere clearer—if she could distract the creatures long enough, perhaps one of the others could come to her aid—

Something slammed into her from behind, and with a yell of pain Nami crashed forward onto the bone-covered ground, wincing in pain as several of the splintery remains jammed into her skin and cut gashes along her body. The Dreamshard basket was still clutched close to her chest when she fell, and now jammed awkwardly into her stomach. She curled around it instinctively as she dragged Zoro's sword closer for protection, tried to beat off her attacker long enough to rise and run—

Something heavy pressed her down, and she could see one unnaturally long catlike leg spread out before her, and other clicking tarantula legs at her peripheral as the weight increased. Panic seized her as she realized there was a Harvester holding her down, and dread chilled her whole body as she felt its hot breath on her back. She knew what was coming next. Frantic, she tried to raise Zoro's sword to reach behind her and beat at its head, but the creature was so heavy and the angle so awkward she could barely raise the sword at all. One spider leg pinned her arm down a moment later, and another was creeping toward her stomach, trying to hook around the basket to draw the Dreamshards free. She screamed, both in fury and in fear, and tightened her grip on both the basket and the sword; she would not relinquish either, refused to. She could feel fangs at her back now—

The weight disappeared abruptly as the creature screamed in her ear, and seconds later something was dragging her up by the back of her collar. Something else tugged at the sword in her hand. In a daze she tugged back, struggled to free herself from the grip of her latest attacker; she had to get away, and Zoro would kill her if she let his precious sword get stolen by a Nightmare—

But somebody was yelling in her ear now, hoarse but irritated, and with a start she realized the voice was familiar. "Damn it, woman!" it growled, "Give me my damned sword already if you want to stay alive!"

"Zoro?" She asked, startled, and released the sword from shock more than because he was telling her to. The swordsman—and he _was_ definitely a swordsman again—was standing next to her now, still holding her up by the scruff of her neck as he snatched up the white sword before it hit the ground, and his fingers didn't burn when he touched the hilt. He still looked pretty sickly—his breathing was heavy, his skin was far too pale to be natural, like he was still recovering from a major illness, and she was sure the dark circles still under his eyes were not caused by the bandanna he was wearing alone. But he was standing under his own power and alert, which was more than she could say for him for the past few days. His two other swords were already thrust through his haramaki, and he looked furious, like he was seriously raring for a fight. Chopper was nearby in Walk Point now, charging down angry Nightmares with his cloth-wrapped antlers to buy them some time and clear them a little space, and Nami could see the doctor looked just as relieved as she felt.

"Of course it's me," Zoro answered, shaking his head at her in exasperation. "Who the hell else would I be? You okay?" He finally set her down, and she stumbled slightly as her heels hit the pavement before hastily checking the basket still clutched to her chest. Luffy's and Robin's Dreamshards were still safe, thankfully.

"Fine," she answered. "Just a bit shocked." Zoro nodded and began drawing his swords from their sheathes, watching the crowd of Nightmares around them. He still looked a bit wobbly, but at this point that wasn't really any different from his condition in dozens of other fights, and he certainly was bleeding a lot less than usual. Although he did seem a bit out of the loop for most of the discoveries they'd made about the Nightmares.

"Keep your swords sheathed," she told him, and he gave her a confused look. "The sailcloth wrappings on the sheathes is what will damage them for your other two. Only the white one can damage them on its own." He frowned a little, but nodded, re-sheathed his red- and black-sheathed swords, and then raised all three weapons for fighting.

"What do we do now, Nami?" Chopper asked, darting back to them. His Walk Point wasn't quite as effective for clearing out Nightmares as his Horn Point had been, but they had a little breathing room for the moment, and that was all that mattered.

"We need to get to the others," Nami said, gesturing in the direction of the Queen of the Night. "On the other side of that..._thing_. I've got Luffy's and Robin's dreams. If we can restore them, maybe..."

"Lead on," Zoro said curtly around the white sword, now rightfully restored to its place of honor between his teeth. "We'll guard."

And she did.

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><p>The quote at the beginning was<em> not<em> in fact where I got _my_ Queen's name. It's just a bizarre coincidence. But once I saw the quote, I had to use it, y'know? :)

It might be the better part of a week before I update next, but I'll try to get it out as soon as I can. NaNo, y'know?

~VelkynKarma


	18. Return

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part eighteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Hey guess what guys! I have to do it. You know I have to. It's a universal anime law. My hit count? _Ovar 9,000!_ (Love you all!)

**Music Box:** I dunno why. I always think of this instrumental piece:  
>www (dot) youtube (dot) com (slash) watch?v=_1T5_R89yzc<br>I guess because it's epic in a less terrifyingly creepy way?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

><p>"There <em>is<em> evil. And evil is powerful. Sometimes more powerful than good. It's there. It has to be recognized—and fought. Otherwise we go down to darkness."  
><em>~The Pale Horse<em>, Agatha Christie

* * *

><p>Feeling a little more successful a lot and more hopeful than before, Nami led the way to the next part of the battle, Zoro and Chopper following.<p>

The swordsman and doctor were on either side of her, escorting her forward like some sort of fancy honor guard from old fantasy stories. Chopper was already well practiced at Nightmare-killing, and tossed the creatures aside with ease with his horns, or charged into them quickly to send them flying into smoke. Zoro needed a little more work to be effective—unlike Chopper and Nami, he hadn't had a chance to practice killing Nightmare scouts, nor was he familiar with the creatures' weaknesses. They had quickly discovered that his white katana was still as effective against the creatures as before, but his years of training as a swordsman made the slices so controlled and fine they rarely killed the Nightmares unless he went for a direct, fatal shot. That explained why he'd been able to slice off the tail, leg, and mandibles of the first Nightmare they'd seen without killing it in one hit, the way the blunt force attacks of Franky or Sanji-kun did. Once they caught on Zoro altered his targets, always slashing at the creatures' heads or chests, and even weakened from the dreamless state his kill ratio went up considerably. And, Nami observed, it probably helped that he was outright _pissed_, really and genuinely _angry_, a state that happened for him almost as rarely as it did for Luffy. That fury appeared to be thankfully fueling his combat abilities and offsetting the exhaustion of the nightmare illness. Hopefully that would last throughout the battle.

And now that she could afford to shift her focus, with Chopper and Zoro guarding her and the Dreamshards in her tight grip, Nami realized just how badly the fight was going for everyone else. In her brief moment of success with recovering the Dreamshards and restoring Zoro she had almost felt like the entire battle was going in their favor, but she couldn't be more wrong.

The Harvesters ahead of them remained somewhat stunned by Brook's echoing music, which was the most that could be said for the advantages the Straw Hats carried. Even then it was a haphazard stun, with the way the music echoed and bounced around the room, intermingled with wild Nightmare screams. The crew had been separated again. Usopp and Brook were closest to Nami's group, with Robin still bound tightly via harness to the sniper's back, while Franky and his vulnerable burden had been swept some distance from the rest of them, towards the back end of the room. None of them looked very well off. It was all Franky could do to keep the enraged Nightmares off of him, especially so far from the effects of Brook's music, and he was swinging his plank wildly to defend his captain. Usopp and Brook fared slightly better, the latter stunning Nightmares at close range while the former sniped them down with his _Sunny_ nail projectiles, but from the terrified, anxious look on Usopp's face Nami suspected he was almost out of ammo.

Worst of all was the Queen of the Night, which looked no worse for wear despite Sanji-kun's constant attacks. The creature possessed a number of wide, smoking burn scars where the cook's dream-enhanced kicks had hit it, but they were easily comparable to cigarette burns on a human being's skin: sharp and painful, but not nearly big enough or damaging enough to cause fatal injuries or death. Some of the older scars looked like they were even already starting to heal, the torn, rough edges knitting themselves together slowly and transforming once more to the viscous material the abomination was made of. The Queen was enraged, and bucked angrily every time she was hit, but for all that Sanji-kun was barely an annoying housefly to the creature. And the cook himself wasn't doing well. His _Diable Jambe_ had long since fizzled out, making his dream-based attacks even less potent than before without the added boost, and he was favoring his right leg heavily as he leapt back and forth across the bloated creature's back, dodging attacks while trying to hand out his own.

Still, Sanji-kun _had_ hit upon one useful technique. As the Queen of the Night extended a new limb to try and smash Franky, this one weirdly elongated and shaped like a many-fingered hand, the cook darted across the evil creature's back. Dodging another unnatural limb that looked strangely like a wrecking ball mounted on the end of a thick, muscular tail, he hurled himself at the newest limb and kicked it at the elbow right as it was stretched to its fullest. The Queen of the Night gave a horrific, pain-filled shriek from its thousands of invisible mouths, and the limb fractured, slicing cleanly in two at the joint. The end still attached to its body retracted immediately back into the creature with a viscous gurgle, while the arm and hand that had been sliced off seemed to lose shape, melding back into the same oozing, thick semi-liquid that the rest of the creature seemed to be made of. It splashed heavily to the ground—Franky just barely managed to dodge—and frothed and bubbled where it lay amidst the bones, but did not move again.

The move clearly cost Sanji-kun, however. Nami could see him grimacing in pain as he hit, and he barely managed to catch onto a new limb as he fell in midair after his attack. He clawed his way back up the creature's side, and when he reached its back again she could see he was limping even more heavily than before.

"He ain't gonna hold long," Zoro growled from beside her, even as he cleanly sliced apart another advancing Shepherd with his two sheathed swords. "Whatever you got planned, you better make it fast."

"I think his leg might be broken," Chopper added, a trembling whimper in his voice as he watched the battle.

"Make for Robin first," Nami ordered, dragging them back on track. "After that everyone else can help Sanji-kun while I go for Luffy." They obeyed, slicing and tossing their way forward through the Nightmares—there didn't seem to be as many of them now; had they really killed so many?—growing steadily closer to the next group of their nakama.

"Nami-san! Chopper-san! And Zoro-san, too!" Brook greeted them, as they came within shouting distance. "It's good to see you alive and well!"

"Zoro, you're okay!" Usopp added with very heartfelt relief. "We were worried, after—" but he cut off in mid-sentence, and his eyes widened in horror as he stared upwards, above them. Nami followed his gaze with a sudden feeling of trepidation, and felt her heart drop to her stomach when she spotted what Usopp had seen.

The Queen of the Night had noticed them. A new, skeletal arm was already growing growing from its bulbous body, reaching for them with surprising speed to retrieve the dreams it had stolen and protect its dinner. The arm itself was spindly, but its wide, flat hand would crush her, Chopper, and Zoro easily, and from the ground there was nothing they could do to protect themselves against its weight and momentum.

_"Nami-san!"_ Sanji-kun yelled, frantic, and leapt forward over the creature's back, half-dragging his damaged right leg forward as he tried to reach the new growth in time. But luck wasn't on Sanji-kun's side, this time. With another scream, this time one of sheer agony, he was smashed in the side with another of the Queen's growths, this one shaped oddly like a blunt, rounded shield mounted on a thick arm. Even from the ground Nami could hear the sickening _crack_ as something in Sanji-kun's chest gave, and he was flung from the evil creature's back, smashing to the stone floor and scattered bones of the Temple of Dreams twenty feet below. Before he could so much as move the Harvesters were on him, and for the second time on Asteria she heard the cook's loss-drenched, almighty _scream_ as the All Blue was stolen from him again.

And still the enormous skeletal hand was coming down at her.

_"Run!"_ Zoro yelled at her, and shoved her forward. Chopper darted ahead nimbly in Walk Point, but froze when he realized he was leaving the other two behind, and hesitated in the shadow of that enormous hand. There was no way they would make it, they were going to die—

_"Dream Star: Atlas Comet!"_ Usopp called frantically, and four of his nail projectiles shot upward, aiming for the skeletal arm's elbow joint just as Sanji-kun had done earlier. They converged at the same point, and while one probably would have been all but useless against the Queen of the Night, four simultaneous hits was another matter entirely. They ripped through the joint, severing the creature's newly built limb in a flourish.

The hand and arm fell towards them still, but Usopp's shot had pushed it off course somewhat, and it was already losing its broad shape, returning to its sluggish, liquid-like state. Nami hurled herself forward, and then rather suddenly found herself being roughly picked up. Seconds later she realized she was tucked under one of Chopper's Heavy Point arms, and a protesting Zoro was under the other one, cursing and insisting he didn't actually_ need_ the help anymore. The doctor leapt, and they cleared the falling dissolving hand by inches before darting the remaining twenty feet to Usopp and Brook.

"Nice shot," Nami gasped to Usopp, as Chopper deposited her and Zoro on the ground. Already she was digging through the basket again, searching once more by feel for Robin's Dreamshard, and at her gesture Chopper began undoing the harness straps that bound the not-archaeologist to the sniper's back.

"Don't congratulate me too early," Usopp groaned. The Queen of the Night was shrieking in pain, but any second now her focus would come back to the Straw Hats. "I've only got about twelve shots left...less if I have to do that again. Sanji was taking care of that thing before, but...now..." Nami saw his eyes flicker in Sanji-kun's direction, far on the opposite side of the room. The cook was struggling feebly against the Nightmares, but couldn't stand on his bad leg, and hardly had any strength left with his Dreamshard stolen. She didn't know which of the creatures had taken it, there were so many clustered around him, and as she watched they seized him by his injured leg and began to drag him laboriously towards the massive creature in the middle.

Nami swore, shook her head, and tried to focus. It was very difficult—the situation felt more hopeless than before. They had finally managed to restore Zoro, only to have Sanji-kun taken in exchange...it wasn't fair!

But they were close, very close now to winning, if only they could hold out for a little longer. She had the Dreamshards they'd been struggling so long to recover. Zoro was back, and Robin would be in a second; she forced herself to focus on the Dreamshards, identify Robin's dream again, and carefully pressed the gleaming gem over Robin's heart as she was laid out on the stones and bones by Chopper. She felt it meld away beneath her palm despite her burns, and the archaeologist gave a soft sigh as the void began to be filled once again. That left Luffy, and the very thought of her captain being restored to normal sent a burst of hope through Nami's heart. If Luffy came back, really came back, maybe they could still salvage the situation, retrieve Sanji-kun's Dreamshard again. Maybe they could even destroy the Queen. Luffy was known for defeating the impossible. As long as he was by their side, they knew he wouldn't let them go down without the most vicious fight he could put up.

They just had to hold out long enough for it to happen.

"I've got it," she said out loud. Barely seconds had passed since Usopp had spoken, and the Straw Hats gathered around her still looked frantic, afraid, exhausted. Brook's bow on the violin seemed to be slowing from defeat, and Usopp was trembling so badly even his normally steady hands were shaking as well. They looked down at her, tired, confused, and she said more insistently, "I've got Luffy's Dreamshard. If I can just get over to him..."

Their faces lit up in surprise, and she could see the barest flickers of hope in their eyes. Zoro's lips drew back in a determined snarl around the white katana in his mouth, and he growled, "I'll distract the thing, it can't eat the love-cook if it's too busy fighting. Chopper, you get Nami over to Luffy, _now._"

"Wait, Zoro, you're not—damn it!" Nami yelled, because the swordsman wasn't listening, was already charging straight for the the enormous monster with all three swords at the ready. The creature swiveled laboriously towards him, and a pair of insectoid limbs dragged themselves free from its bloated body, rocketing at the swordsman with terrifying speed, and Zoro was going to be too late to dodge it—

_"Ochenta Fleur: Quatro Manos!"_ came the ragged cry from beside her, and instantly four enormous hands, made of many human-sized ones, sprouted from the Queen of the Night's body right next to the mantis-arms attacking Zoro. But these did not belong to the Queen; unlike the vast Nightmare's shadowy body, these arms were of flesh. Each pair of enormous hands wrapped themselves around the base of the insect-arms and wrenched upwards, dragging the slicing attack safely away from Zoro. Without hesitation he closed the gap between himself and the creature and slashed with all three swords, severing one of the limbs at the base, to the resounding pain-filled screams of the Queen. The enormous hands released it, and it splashed to the ground, bubbling and hissing.

"Robin!" Nami gasped. "Good, it worked...are you okay? How are you feeling? It's so good to see you back!"

"I'm fine, in a manner of speaking," Robin said shortly. Like Zoro, she looked exhausted: there were dark lines under her eyes, and her hands trembled as she crossed them in front of her chest. But just like the swordsman there was a determined, furious look in the archaeologist's eyes, and Nami could tell she was just as angry about the theft of her dream as Zoro was, even if she was more calculating in applying it. "I believe I heard you say you had a way to restore Luffy's dream as well. You should hurry...Usopp and I can aid Swordsman-san."

"My music should protect them from most of the Nightmares," Brook added. His playing had grown more vigorous again, and he sounded determined once more. "There aren't as many left on this side of the room, anyway."

"Right," Nami said slowly. Between Brook and Robin they should hopefully last long enough, and Brook was right: there were _far_ more Nightmares over on the opposite side of the room, where Sanji-kun was on the left, and Franky on the right. She could barely even see Franky anymore, he was so heavily surrounded by the creatures, and with a jolt of horror she realized they would have him soon if she didn't hurry. "Let's go, Chopper!"

He darted over in Walk Point, and she leapt on his back, still clutching the Dreamshard basket to her chest. She dug her free hand into the thick fur at his shoulders as he jumped high, using his superior nimbleness and agility as a full reindeer to leap over the heads and grasping limbs of the Nightmares and towards the last of their scattered nakama.

They were too late. Barely halfway there Franky's sudden anguished scream reached their ears, and Chopper moaned in fear at the realization that another friend's Dreamshard had been stolen. Nami felt despair squeeze at her heart a little further, but clutched the basket nestled against her chest still closer. "Keep going, Chopper!" she said firmly. "If we can still get to Luffy we might have a chance!"

The reindeer nodded beneath her. "I think they're trying to drag Luffy free," he observed after a moment, as he leaped high into the air once again, and Nami had to agree. Oily smoke was rising above where Franky's scream had come from, which meant the Nightmares were trying—and hopefully failing—to get through Luffy's sailcloth sling. "There's still a lot of them though. I'm going to try and use a second Rumble Ball—it won't work as well, but maybe I can clear enough out of the way for you to take care of Luffy. Hold on!"

She did as ordered, digging her fingers still further into the reindeer's thick fur as he shifted to his Heavy Point. A second Rumble Ball was produced, and Nami understood the gamble the reindeer was taking; she knew after the first it was impossible to control his transformations very well. But anything was better than nothing, she decided, as the doctor called loudly,_ "Rumble!"_

Then Nami started screaming as they started dropping at a much faster pace than she had anticipated. Chopper's back had gotten much broader beneath her, and his rack of antlers had reappeared, much larger and spikier than before. "Damn," she heard him yelp, "I didn't want—"

Whatever he was going to say, it was cut off with a furious _crash_ as they slammed into the stone on top of an entirely unfortunate General, which, while immune to non-dream attacks, was still subjected to the laws of physics and was very thoroughly flattened. Chopper staggered to his Horn Point's mismatched feet and yelled, "Hang tight!_ Roseo Colonnade!_"

Nami started shrieking all over again as the the reindeer charged, tossing Nightmares out of his way as if they were bowling pins and shaking the navigator on his back around so badly she was sure the dizzy feeling would never actually go away. Halfway through is attack the reindeer shifted again with a curse, this time to his fluffy Guard Point, sending Nightmares—and Nami—flying aside.

"Sorry!" He helped to her helplessly, as another uncontrolled transformation seized him, this time shifting him back to his Walk Point.

Nami rolled to her feet dazedly, but recovered her wits in record time. "Forget about it!" She shouted back. "Just keep those things off me!"

"Right!" Chopper shouted back, and charged down the smoking Nightmares nearby, driving into the creatures with his sailcloth-wrapped horns and sending them bursting into smoke. Another unexpected transformation took him seconds later, this time shifting him to Arm Point, but he improvised quickly and began killing more of the creatures, beating them away from the unconscious Franky and the cloth-wrapped bundle not too far from his hands.

Nami didn't hesitate. The Dreamshard was thankfully, miraculously, still safe in its basket after all the tossing and tumbling she'd taken, and she darted forward now to the sling and the vaguely human shape inside. With the screaming Nightmares in the area beaten back and destroyed, Nami could hear her captain still ranting, crying out hoarsely about how something had been stolen from him, how he would never see it returned.

_That's where you're wrong, Luffy,_ she said, determined, as she set the basket's bent handle between her teeth again—even with the space cleared out, she still wasn't willing to set it down on the ground for a second—and began peeling back the sailcloth and blanket wrappings. Within moments his pale face and open, unseeing eyes were exposed. She tugged back the cloth and blanket still further, until she could see his red vest as well, and without hesitation plunged her hand into the basket, snatched up his Dreamshard, and slapped it down onto his chest.

For a few terrifying seconds nothing happened, and Nami thought with a horrified twist in her stomach that maybe there was a certain time limit before a person's body would start rejecting their dream. But seconds later the Dreamshard began to melt beneath her fingers, and the sensations of raw, absolute certainty vanished from her mind. It would take a few seconds now for it to settle in, judging by the other three that had also been restored, and she set about unwrapping the rest of the sailcloth sling from Luffy's body so he wouldn't be tied up right away when he woke—

_"Nami!"_ she heard Usopp yelling frantically._ "Nami, get out of the way, dodge!"_

Startled, Nami whipped around, crouching protectively over Luffy's prone form as she did so. The fight with the Queen of the Night was not going well again. Zoro had managed to somehow clamber up onto the creature's back, where Sanji-kun had been earlier, but he was presently hanging perilously over the side of the enormous, bulging body, scrabbling for purchase. He was sweating profusely, clearly weak from his ordeal, and it was only thanks to several of Robin's quickly generated arms digging into his clothing that he was even hanging on at all. With its main attackers distracted, the Queen had turned on Nami, clearly furious that she had restored yet another Dreamshard to one of its otherwise perfectly prepared meals. An enormous whiplike tail, studded with spikes, was already extending from its bulbous body. Dammit, was there no end to the horrific, disgusting appendages the creature was willing to create?

The tail was drawing up now to strike with even more power. Several little explosions smashed into its side to no effect, and Nami could hear Usopp cursing frantically as he shot still more ineffectual exploding stars at the creature. He must have finally run out of his _Sunny_ ammunition. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Nami, _run_, hurry!"

"Nnnngh," Luffy muttered sleepily. "Nami? What's going on?"

Nami whipped her head back to stare down at her captain. She was relieved to see him awake already, but there wasn't much time for that. She grabbed him by the shoulders of his vest and tried to drag him up, saying frantically, "Luffy, we have to get out of here, hurry—"

His eyes widened in confusion and surprise as he saw the spiked tail bearing down on them, but Nami gave her captain credit where it was due: even disoriented after being in a dreamless coma for nearly three days, his battle reflexes were as well honed as ever. With surprising speed one of his rubbery arms wrapped around her waist, and the second shot out over his head, grabbing at a distant part of the wall. He pulled, and they rocketed with literally elastic speed out of the way of the tail just as it crashed down into the bones and rubble. It retracted back into the creature's body a moment later with a thousand-voice scream of frustration.

Nami and Luffy slammed into the wall at breakneck speed, though Luffy was, for once, careful enough to cushion his navigator's body with his own rubbery one to lessen the otherwise extremely painful impact. They bounced to the bone-scattered ground, and Nami groaned as she rolled away from him. That had been far, far too close.

"Nami?" Luffy asked, confused, as he sat up slowly. "What's going on? How come you're hurt all over?" Blinking, he gazed around the room with his usual wide-eyed stare, and added, "What's that big monster? And all the smaller ones? Are we in a fight? I can see Zoro and Robin fighting..." Another blink, and Nami knew _exactly_ when he'd spotted Sanji-kun's and Franky's sprawled, Nightmare-surrounded forms, because his eyes narrowed dangerously and he hissed, "Did those _things_ hurt my nakama? They're going to pay for that!"

He started to stand, to wind up his right arm before a spectacular punch, but Nami grabbed him by his collar before he could. "Wait, Luffy! You don't remember anything?"

His eyes were still narrowed, but at Nami's question he cocked his head thoughtfully and said after a moment, "We were just playing in the leaves a few minutes ago. After that I just remember it being really dark." He frowned for a bit, but then with an _ah_ of sudden discovery he asked, "Did I fall asleep like Ace?"

"Not exactly. Here, wait a second." She forced him to crouch, and unholstered her Clima-Tact quickly, snapping two of the cords free from the Heat and Cool poles. Working quickly, she tied them around Luffy's knuckles, explaining shortly, "You've been unconscious for almost three days, Luffy. Those things are Nightmares. You can only hurt them with dream items—like this cord from the _Thousand Sunny_—because they don't like our dreams. And—" she hesitated, making sure the cords were securely tied before she said the next part, because after that Luffy would be utterly unpredictable. "—they steal people's ambitions too, Luffy. That's what happened to Sanji-kun and Franky. And what happened to Zoro, and Robin, and...and you, too."

Luffy's eyes flew wide. Those that didn't know him might have mistaken the expression for shock, but Nami, who had known the captain almost longer than any of the other crew mates save Zoro, recognized the look all too well. It was an expression of pure, unbridled _rage_, the expression reserved for those that attacked his hat or mocked his crew's dreams, the expression that clearly said he was about to visit untold amounts of damage onto some unfortunate but _highly_ deserving individual.

"They...did..._what?_" Luffy snarled, fists clenching so tightly Nami would have been afraid of his fingers breaking if he wasn't made of rubber. He whipped around, glared at the Queen of the Night with no-holds-barred fury, and snarled, "That darkness didn't _feel_ like a good sleep. It was too empty. Because they _stole_ my _dream?_" Nami nodded almost timidly, and he hissed further, "And the All Blue? And the _Sunny?_ And the World's Greatest Swordsman, and the True History?"

Nami nodded again, silently, and Luffy's head dropped to his chest, his bangs hiding his eyes. His legs were planted firmly, and his arms trembled with barely contained rage, clenching still further until they squished most unnaturally. But he stood stock still, breathing hard, and Nami hoped desperately that the dreamless state hadn't affected him so badly that he couldn't attack for all his fury. He _did_ look far too pale for his own good, and his face had a gaunt look that was emphasized all the further by the dark lines under his eyes. Zoro and Robin were having trouble battling, and Luffy had been down a day longer than them. Maybe it had been foolish to hope that Luffy could save them now.

A sharp cry came across from the battle with the Queen of the Night, and Nami's head jerked up in surprise. Zoro had finally been thrown clear of the Nightmare's back, gasping in pain, trailing blood from his torso; if Nami had to guess she'd say he'd been impaled by one of the Queen's many rapidly appearing-and-disappearing assortment of nightmarish limbs before being thrown. Robin created a net of arms to catch him before he could plummet twenty feet to the ground into the remaining Nightmares, but she was clearly growing tired, and the net vanished halfway. Only Chopper's timely leap managed to save the swordsman from a return to the dreamless state, snapping him out of the air.

They were being slaughtered. They had held out for so long, for hours, but it was all for nothing, and Nami realized with a tired sigh that after all that they were going to die. Sanji-kun and Franky were already down, dreams stolen away, too injured to fight back. Zoro and Robin were up and fighting valiantly, but they were still too weak to contribute for long. Chopper had reached his limit on his Rumble Balls, and Usopp was out of ammunition entirely. Only Brook could still keep going, but for what purpose? It would only delay the inevitable. It had been a good try, but they were done for.

And then beside her Luffy drew in a deep breath, snorted angrily, and drew his fist back. He wound up furiously and let fly with a rapid _Gomu Gomu no Pistol_, roaring at the top of his lungs, _"How_ dare _you steal my nakama's dreams!"_

It was slower than usual for Luffy, so Nami could tell he was affected on some level by his three days of dreamlessness. But his rage more than made up for it, seemed to be all the fuel her captain needed to enter the fight, and with a wet smacking sound his rubber fist collided with what Nami was fairly sure was the creature's enormous, bulbous side.

It screamed in pain, a haunting wail that was one and thousands all at the same time, and its agonized cry was far louder than before. Luffy's attack left a smoking scar in its side, and the momentum of his rubbery punch was, unbelievably, enough to send the creature rocking sideways a fraction on its nest.

The Queen of the Night screamed again, this time in frustration, and scrabbled laboriously back in place on its nest. Once again, for a fraction of a second, Nami thought she saw something glinting at its belly, but it dragged itself back in place and began sweeping its nest of bone and dead dreams back into place with several extra arms.

Luffy ignored it for the moment. Instead he stretched his other arm out to one of the broken down third floors that had been hollowed out long ago above them and pulled himself up into the air. There was a look of pure hatred etched on his face as he hung suspended for the briefest of moments, and he snarled loudly, _"Don't you_ ever _think of taking their dreams away from them! Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"_

The barrage of fists rained down on the bony ground, and the Nightmares still spread all across it, as he began to descend. Nami saw blood flying as, more than once, Luffy's wildly flinging fists shattered bones that splintered into his skin and cut at his knuckles. But more often than not the furious assault hit Nightmares: dozens of them at a time, utterly undiscriminating between Harvesters and Shepherds and even Generals. Nothing survived the attack; each and every Nightmare Luffy struck dissipated into oily smoke without so much as a chance to scream, and within seconds one entire half of the gathering of Nightmares had been destroyed, leaving the bones and stone clear. The unconscious Franky had probably taken a bit of a beating from that attack, Nami thought sympathetically, but he was metal and could probably handle it. Thankfully, the rest of the crew had had the good sense to run out of the way when Luffy unleashed his barrage.

The Queen of the Night lashed out at Luffy furiously now with several bladed tails and hands and who only knew what else, shrieking angrily with its many-yet-one voice. But even as he was falling Luffy snapped his hand across to the other side of the room, grasping at a cracked third floor balcony again, and dragged himself from midair to the massive Nightmare's other side. Once again he unleashed a furious _Gomu Gomu no Gatling,_ pounding the Nightmares here into dust as well, although thankfully he was slightly more careful about the placement of his punches to avoid hitting Sanji-kun. The few Nightmares still attempting to drag the cook off worked faster, desperate to keep their prize, but Luffy landed among them and with furious roars of _"Pistol! Bullet! Bazooka!"_ destroyed the rest of the creatures, clearing the space around his cook as well.

And he wasn't done yet. Nami knew that without a shred of doubt, because even with all the Nightmares that he'd killed the rage was still prevalent on his face, and the navigator knew he wouldn't be satisfied until the Queen of the Night herself was destroyed, or he was dead.

He proved her right seconds later. He crouched next to Sanji-kun (now definitely unconscious on the stone floor and crumbling bones) and slammed his fist into the ground, resting the second one on his knee. Nami could see his legs pumping from even from across the room, and after a moment his skin began to hiss as the sweat on his body started to evaporate, creating a translucent sheen of smoke that differed so much from the oily clouds the Nightmares possessed. _"Gear Second,"_ Luffy declared, his voice low and deadly, as the Queen of the Night laboriously turned to face him.

"I won't forgive you," Luffy told it, even as it began sprouting dozens more arms of all kinds: some were machine like, while others were like insects, or whips, or clawed talons, but Luffy didn't seemed fazed by a single one. He dashed to the side as the multitude of appendages began to come towards him, drawing them away from Sanji-kun, and then leapt into the air, his speed enhanced so much by his _Gear Second_ state it was almost impossible for Nami to follow him. _"I'll kill you for even_ thinking _you could take my Pirate King promise from me!"_ Luffy roared in the air. _"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol!"_

The attack slammed into the Queen of the Night with brutal force, and for the first time it really and truly _shrieked_ in all-out agony as it was hit. The attack left a smoking crater in the enormous Nightmare's viscous skin, and it staggered back further than before, when Luffy had hit it with just his regular _pistol_ move.

_"I'll kill you for taking Zoro's dream too,"_ Luffy snarled mercilessly, as he drew back his other fist. _"You can't have his World's Greatest Swordsman promise!"_ Another Jet Pistol fired, another smoking crater dug its way into the creature's side, and another pain-filled shriek of one-yet-one-thousand voices ripped through the air as it staggered backward even further.

_"You can't have Nami's map, either!"_ Luffy continued, still falling through the air from his leap as he fired another Jet Pistol, dug another burning scar into the creature's side. _"Or Usopp's warrior dream!"_ The Queen snapped back a fourth time; she had fallen halfway out of her nest now. _"Or Sanji's belief in the All Blue!"_ The creature was starting to bow to the ground under Luffy's furious Jet Pistol assault, its side a smoking mass of holes now, and it had given up on trying to counterattack.

_"Chopper's cures. Robin's search. Franky's ship. Brook's promise."_ Each name was followed by a furious impact. _"You can't have_ any _of them! If anyone_ dares _to take my nakama's dreams away, I'll_ kill _them!"_ Luffy delivered one last furious Twin Jet Pistol and finally landed, crouching over the bones of the dead and forgotten as he glared ahead at his enemy.

The Queen of the Night was still screaming, one long, keening wail of intertwined voices, as it rolled backwards from Luffy's wild attack. Dozens of hands sprouted beneath Franky and dragged him out of the way just in time as the bloated creature crashed onto its side. Its dozens of mismatched, poorly placed legs and tails twitched and waved like an overturned spider's, and its hundreds of eyes blinked and squinted and vanished as it struggled to comprehend its new enemy. Then, slowly, its limbs began to withdraw into its body once more, extending many moments later as newly shaped limbs from what had once been its belly and back. It lifted itself slowly upwards once again, with the burn scars that had once been on its side now oriented on its new back. Being little more than an enormous, amorphous mass, it had been easy for the creature to shift all of its limbs a quarter of the way around its body to reorient itself. Nami shuddered in disgust.

And then she stared in surprise. Luffy had knocked the Queen of the Night off of its nest, and the creature was dragging itself back up onto its perch as fast as it could, sprouting even more limbs to aid with the process. It settled itself back in place quickly and launched a new barrage of dozens of mismatched limbs in Luffy's direction, rearing up slowly as its blobby body took on a slightly more humanoid shape, and the burn scars on its back seemed to grow smaller. But in that brief moment before it had replaced itself on its morbid throne, Nami had seen something glinting underneath: an archway built of crystal, with the same oily smoke that the creatures turned into when they died swirling within it.

With sudden, startling clarity Nami found her memories of the past three days bursting through her head all at once, so fast it was difficult to keep track of them all. _Supposedly,_ Robin had translated, _the Queen of the Night was born millennia ago, in the World of Dreams. She was dangerous and beautiful and deadly, and for a human being to see her almost certainly meant their death. But she was trapped in the World of Dreams and could not escape it on her own._

_One story mentions 'living nightmares,' creatures that reside in the World of Dreams, but are able to pass between worlds in the dead of night._

_The recorder mentions increased visits from the outside world—off of the island, presumably—and adds that only a decade after their arrival, an alarming increase in those 'taken by nightmares' began, and their dream-oracles started seeing more of the creatures._

_The records in the temples did not begin to change drastically until these visitors were mentioned, and only then did more Nightmare mythos begin to take shape._

_The city, Oneirosa, contains the Temple of Dreams that the fishing village chapel also mentioned, and was reportedly a huge draw for the visitors._

_These Nightmares seem heavily tied up in Asteria's mythos, in some way. The city is the most likely place for them to emerge from._

_They came from Oneirosa._

Eyes wide, Nami snatched up her Clima-Tact and darted towards the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, heeled sandals crunching on old bones as she pushed herself for all the speed she could muster. She was suddenly aware of her exhaustion, but furiously refused to let herself feel it, not now, not when this new realization had come to her. She dodged aside as the Queen of the Night stomped one of its multitude of legs down near her, recoiling from yet another attack from Luffy, and slid to a stop near the others, panting.

Robin had used her _Hana-Hana_ powers to drag the the prone bodies of Sanji-kun and Franky over to the group for safety's sake, although doing so had clearly tired her, and she drooped where she sat. Zoro was half kneeling nearby, using one sheathed sword for support while Chopper fussed anxiously with an apparently deep stab wound to his abdomen (not that this was surprising, considering the source). Usopp was watching the battle with awe, limbs trembling as he used his own kabuto like a walking staff to hold him up, and Brook had finally stopped playing his violin, bony arms hanging limply at his sides.

"Robin," Nami gasped, "The archway—did you see it?"

The archaeologist looked surprised, but shook her head. "From this angle I could see something glittering in the Queen of the Night's nest, but not what it was. I am afraid my recent illness has made it difficult for me to produce enough hands and eyes to provide my usual level of surveillance." She shook her head, a rare sign of frustration that was obviously influenced by her weaker state.

"I could see it better from my angle," Nami admitted. "Look, it had the same smoke swirling around in it that those things turn into when we kill them. Could it be a doorway? To the World of Dreams your translations kept talking about?"

Robin frowned. "It is possible, I suppose. The scripts never mentioned a doorway in a literal sense, but some other translations regarding the religion seemed to treat 'visits to the World of Dreams' as something more literal, and not sleeping, or a trance-state."

Nami took a deep breath, and then said, "What would happen if we broke it?"

Usopp nearly choked at the suggestion, and Chopper stared at her with wide eyes. Even Zoro gave her a quizzical look. The entire chamber seemed to shudder as Luffy smashed into the Queen of the Night with another _Gear Second_ boosted attack, and they all staggered.

"I don't know, Nami," Robin finally said with a sigh. "What little records I managed to find and locate before my Dreamshard was stolen were very inconclusive on the subject. They didn't even suggest a door, much less what might happen if it were closed. And I...dislike...the thought of destroying ancient architecture in an attempt to kill the creature."

Brook hesitated, and then said slowly, "Meaning no disrespect, Robin-san, but I do not believe we have much of a choice."

The others gave the skeleton surprised looks, but Zoro nodded in agreement. His normally grim, stoic expression still looked sickly on his tired, drawn face. "He's right," the swordsman said flatly. "It's been healing itself, as long as it's sitting on that nest. Dartboard's kicks had some effect when he was attacking the thing, but when I got up there later they only looked half as bad as they'd been before."

"And Luffy's going to run out of energy soon," Chopper added, with a bite to his lip. "Gear Second is strong, but it drains him too fast afterwards, and if he can't do any lasting damage..."

Robin sighed, but nodded. "I had noticed this as well," she admitted. "It pains me to say it, but these ruins will be no good to anyone if our bones join the hundreds of others already here. If destroying the doorway is our only other option...then we must try it."

"Then we need to push it off first," Zoro said, and heaved himself to his feet. Chopper squawked in protest, and Zoro growled, "I'm not gonna get near it, don't worry."

"I'll go, too," Nami said, rearranging her Clima-Tact again—two thirds of its dream-based enhancements were gone, but the _Cyclone Tempo_ could push as well as anything. "Usopp, you be ready to break that thing when it's in the open again!"

"Right," Usopp said, flashing a thumbs-up. "The Great Captain Usopp can definitely handle that task. I've got just the thing for it, too." And he started digging through his ammunition bag, muttering to himself.

"Luffy!" Nami called up to their captain loudly. He'd launched himself into the air again to lash out with another jet attack, but she was certain he didn't have too much left in him now, not after being nearly comatose for three days. Anger might be fueling him now, but it would only last so long. He looked down on her, rage still etched on his face, but his expression softened slightly when he saw her, and when he landed next to them he looked more solemn then furious.

"We need to attack all at once, Luffy," she said quickly, insistently. "We have to push that thing off its nest—if we can do that, we can kill it." _I hope._

The captain's eyes narrowed. "Push it off?" His eyes swept over Zoro, Nami, and (Nami was surprised to find) Brook, who had also followed them. "Alright," he agreed after a moment. "Let's go!"

Luffy hurled himself forward into the air once more, his enhanced _Gear Second_ state sending him flying higher than even Sanji-kun could reach naturally, or Chopper in Jump Point. Nami was hard pressed to keep up with him, and spun hastily to face the screaming Queen of the Night before them, throwing her Clima-Tact and shouting her attack alongside three others.

_"Cyclone Tempo!"_

_"Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!"_

_"One Hundred Eight Pound Cannon!"_

_"Aubade Coup Droit!"_

Compressed air slices, one enormous air blast, and one very fast, very angry open-palmed strike shot towards the writhing Queen of the Night on her macabre throne of dead dreams and dead people. The enormous Nightmare screamed a challenge, and sprouted enormous, thick limbs to block the attacks—or try to. At the last moment four enormous flesh-colored hands, hands made of dozens of smaller hands, sprouted in front of the Queen's supporting legs and tugged, sending the creature skittering off balance. It's defending arms flew wide, and the attacks smashed home, rocking the creature backwards, tilting it further, almost—

"It's not enough!" Nami screamed in frustration, but as he descended Luffy threw out one last Jet Pistol with a furious, wordless scream of rage before finally crashing to the ground, energy spent, exhausted and immobile. The attack struck true, and with a final, frantic shriek the Queen of the Night slid off her nest, exposing the crystal archway for all to see.

It tried to right itself frantically, to scrabble back onto it's secret to conceal it once more, desperate to receive healing and protect the one thing that was obviously so vital to it. Nami had wondered, when they first stormed into the Temple, why such creatures that were clearly repulsed by the building would struggle so hard to remain in its confines. Now she understood. It wasn't a matter of preference. It was the only place they could go, chained to their strength and their weakness both, unable to move it or leave it.

The Queen scrabbled frantically to protect that secret now. But this time, after centuries of jealously guarding it, destroying everything and everyone that set foot on her island and feeding greedily on their despair and sorrow, this time she was finally too late.

"Sunflower Star!" Usopp called triumphantly, as five explosive pellets were launched from his kabuto. They shot passed the enraged, frantic Queen of the Night in a pentagonal flight pattern and smashed with unerring accuracy into the beautiful crystal archway revealed in the center of the evil creature's macabre nest. All five exploded, and with a jarring cracking noise the archway and its swirling contents shivered dangerously, beginning to crumble. Usopp hit it again with the same attack, unrelenting, and the already unstable arch shattered, its hundreds of broken pieces casting shivering spots of light that danced across the walls and floor as they fell. The oily smoke of the archway swirled once more, and then abruptly dissipated, vanishing into thin air.

The screaming began seconds later.

Even at this distance, deep within the Temple of Dreams, with thick crystal walls and piles of stone rubble to cushion them, Nami could hear the Nightmares still locked outside begin to wail in one synchronized voice. She could hear the high-pitched clicking shrieks of the Harvesters, the booming howls of the Shepherds, and the rumbling hisses of the Generals, melded together in a still-rising cacophony of unparalleled agony. Frustration, pain, depression, sorrow—it was all there in each and every creature's voice, and sounded oddly similar to the loss-filled cries she had heard escape each of her nakama as their dreams were stolen. Part of Nami accepted the ironic similarity as a fitting end for the hellish creatures that had made the past three days of their lives miserable. But most of her was concentrated on clamping her hands over her ears as best as she could; the shrieking was so loud it was painful, and she'd dropped her Clima-Tact in favor of wrapping her arms around her head. Poor Chopper was curled up in a ball amongst the bones, hooves clapped wildly over his little reindeer ears, Robin had sprouted extra arms to clap her palms over the unconscious Franky's and Sanji-kun's ears as well, and even Zoro made a concession to the noise and shrugged his head closer to his shoulders.

But the Queen of the Night was by far the worst. The moment the crystal arch broke she, too, began screaming, arching her bulbous body unnaturally in obvious pain. And like before, her voice consisted of thousands, some animal screams, some human cries. But like everything else about the creature, this new, final cry was twisted and warped, almost unfitting for its end; for while its bestial voices cried out in pain, its human voices seemed to be laughing hysterically, weeping joyfully, praising dozens of deities Nami had never before heard of in her life. The Queen of the Night clearly felt despair, the way it was writhing in agony, but its screams were _happy._ The navigator's stomach churned unpleasantly when she realized those voices may very well have belonged to its victims, made her cringe all the more when she realized just how _many_ the creature had killed.

But it was dying now, and even with her hands clamped over her ears and her eyes tearing up from the pain of the noises and her own injuries and exhaustion Nami could take some satisfaction in that. The creature was rearing back now even further, beginning to smoke heavily as the crystal door—the door to the World of Dreams—closed forever and took the creature with it. In the Queen's last moments, she began to shift rapidly, her viscous skin adapting frantic, terrifying shapes and forms that really would only be found in the deepest nightmares: an enormous spider, a ravaging demon, a fanged cobra, burning flames, leering faces, endless darkness. Worst of all were the images of all of her nakama lying dead, bloodied and beaten, but while that image was terrifying she took comfort in the fact that her _real_ nakama were all around her, and she could see the rest of them doing the same.

At the very end the creature shifted one last time, taking at last the form of a gigantic woman, clothed in bony armor, with skin and hair black as night. She was surprisingly beautiful, in a dark, cold, frightening way, and Nami recalled once more the passage Robin had translated—_Queen of the Night was born millennia ago, in the World of Dreams. She was dangerous and beautiful and deadly, and for a human being to see her almost certainly meant their death._ The creature glared down at them hatefully, reached with one enormous hand towards Luffy for one last attack...and with a last, agonized yet joy filled shriek from her thousands of voices, disintegrated completely into oily smoke and vanished forever into the air.

Silence filled the room, and seconds later, silence came from outside as well. Nami stared at the empty space where the Queen of the Night had been and abruptly collapsed to her knees as exhaustion finally overtook her, and her body began to tremble alarmingly as the fight finally ended. She could hear the others gasping and collapsing and murmuring around her as well. Brook was_ yohoho_ing delightedly while playing a celebratory tune on his violin (Nami would never, ever begrudge him the instrument again after today's events), Zoro had finally allowed himself to collapse tiredly with a grumble about needing a nap, and though Luffy was completely immobile laying against the bones after his overzealous expenditure of energy he was grinning widely now and laughing. And somehow she knew at that moment, despite all they had been through and all the struggles Asteria Island had thrown at them, that they had conquered it at last; the island was empty, the monsters were gone, her captain was back, and Nami knew that they would finally be okay.

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><p><strong>Fun Fact:<strong> A lot of Queenie's arms in the previous chapter and this one were inspired by former villains or opponents :) They are very, very subtle cameos and the result of Queenie here picking her opponents' minds for things they fear. And others are just creepy limbs that I felt like writing about :D

Same as last time...it'll probably be at the very least a week before I update due to NaNoWriMo, and that'll probably be the last update too :( All good things must end, sadly...

~VelkynKarma


	19. Exploring

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part nineteen of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** Herp derp, Karma fails at life. My wrap-up chapter got out of hand and I had to split it into two. But hey—that means more answers for you guys! Yay!

**Note the Second:** I've beaten _Mindshattered_ in terms of reviews with this fic, which is just...I didn't know that was even possible. Wow. That is all thanks to you lovely people :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

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><p>"The human spirit cannot be paralyzed. If you are breathing, you can dream."<br>~Mike Brown

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><p>For a while none of the Straw Hats moved; merely breathed, existed, and relished the thoughts that they were still alive and their dreams were still (mostly) intact. Nami, for one, had crashed to her knees on a cleared part of the bony ground, panting with exhaustion and almost willing to cry with relief, knowing they had somehow survived that unearthly, extraordinarily powerful <em>thing.<em>

But after a while she realized that even with the Queen of the Night dead, or sent away, or _whatever_ they'd done, they weren't quite out of the fire yet. True, all the Nightmares were dead now, which meant there was no lasting threat on this island. But a lot of their number were in terrible shape as well. Many of them were badly wounded, Franky and Sanji-kun were still missing their Dreamshards from the fight, and all of their supplies were outside the city, meaning they would need to be transported out before they could be given lasting help.

Still, for all that, the advantages were worth it. Luffy was still sprawled out flat on the ground, completely unable to move after his over-expenditure of _Gear Second_ after not eating for three days. But he was grinning widely, satisfied that he had managed to save his nakama's dreams. She could hear him _shishishi_-ing under his breath, a welcome change to the creepy chanting that had been passing his lips in his dreamless state.

"Ah!" he said suddenly, sounding very distressed. "Hat! Nami, where's Hat? You _did_ save Hat, right?"

"What kind of Pirate King's navigator do you take me for, Luffy?" Nami said, dragging herself back to her feet with liberal use of the Clima-Tact as a walking staff. "Of course I got your hat. We put it nice and safe with all our supplies back outside the city, it's waiting for you on top of the pile when we get back."

It was an absolutely wonderful feeling to see him _grinning_ at that, instead of panicking, and he said cheerfully, "Thanks, Nami!" Then his whole expression seemed to wilt, and he whined, "San_jiiiiii_...I'm _hungry..._"

"We don't have any food with us, Luffy," Nami said. Not to mention Sanji-kun was sort of temporarily out of commission, but she didn't tell him that part. The captain looked so forlorn at the mention of _no food,_ however, that she edited herself, and said, "Er, well, Usopp might have something in his bag, or something..."

"Yes! Let's go!" Their leader wiggled rather uselessly on the bone-strewn floor, and huffed in irritation when he moved nowhere. "Rrgh...so _hungry..._"

"I got it." Zoro appeared by her side, limping badly and still dripping blood from several places she was _pretty_ sure he shouldn't be. "Chopper'll have a fit anyway if I don't come back. And you look like you've got something else to take care of." He bent down and snagged Luffy's vest by the collar, wobbling a little as he did so, before unceremoniously dragging their restored captain towards the rest of the group waiting some distance away.

"If you have something to attend to, might I be of assistance?" Brook, still standing nearby from the final attack, offered.

Nami considered. "Actually, there is. Franky's and Sanji-kun's Dreamshards are somewhere in this...mess," she said with a wrinkle of her nose, waving her hand wide to indicate the bone- and gem-studded floor. "Living Dreamshards look more...I don't know...alive, and brighter, than the dead ones here, but finding them is still going to be like finding a specific piece of hay in a haystack."

"Then a second pair of eyes could most certainly be of use!" Brook said delightedly. "I will be happy to provide...although, I have no eyes! _Yohohoho!_"

She already felt like she was regretting her decision, but said dryly, "Okay, sure. You go over and look where Franky's was, and I'll see if I can find Sanji-kun's. When you find it though, don't touch it directly! Pick it up with a cloth or something."

"At once, Nami-san!" Brook said, and darted over the broken bones to attend to his task, delighted at the thought of being helpful. Nami shook her head tiredly, but picked her way carefully over the scattered remains of forgotten people as well, heading towards her rough estimation of the spot where Sanji-kun's dream had been stolen again.

It was a complete and utter mess. Bones had been shattered by Luffy's anger-driven _Gatling_ punches and the Queen of the Night's furious attacks against him, and dead Dreamshards were buried in thick layers of dust and bone splinters. They glittered weakly in the late afternoon sunlight pouring in through the massive crystal dome overhead, displaying beautiful arrays of colors that would have had any self-respecting thief drooling at the sight. Nami, exhausted as she was, couldn't even bring herself to care. Instead she simply crouched tiredly and began sifting through the piles of broken bodies and dead gems, searching for the one that still lived and would restore her nakama back to normal.

Had she been in a better state of mind she might have been squeamish about handling the bony remains of long-dead humans and animals and who knew what else. As it was she was just tired and in pain and wanted to get the entire mess over with. She was careful to set the bits of bone gently aside when she moved them to search for the gems beneath and around them, mindful that they had once been alive and still deserved respect, but beyond that she couldn't bring herself to care. She _did_ treat the Dreamshards tentatively, poking them aside with a section of Clima-Tact as though they would bite her, and in that she felt justified; her hands were still raw and red from where she had been burned snatching Luffy's, Zoro's, and Robin's dreams, after all. But none of the little gems belonged to Sanji-kun, she could tell that easily. His had been much larger than these little ones, and anyway none of them glowed with that powerful inner presence that meant his dream was still alive.

It took the better part of an hour to shift through all of the shards and bones to make any progress at all. Usopp eventually came over to join her, once he had been patched up by Chopper, and his extra set of eyes made the process go a little faster. Eventually the sniper gave a triumphant shout, and stood over a small patch of ground carefully, pointing at something between his feet. Nami came over to investigate, and was relieved to see Sanji-kun's Dreamshard glittering brilliantly amidst a nest of dead gems, making his look all the more larger and brighter than before. It was quite some distance from where the All Blue had first been taken from him, closer to the macabre nest of the Queen still in the center of the Temple; the Harvester that had taken it had clearly been trying to deliver it to its mistress. Nami picked it up carefully with the sleeves of her jacket, careful not to let it touch her skin, and headed back for the rest of the crew while Usopp jogged over to Brook to lend his eyes to the search for Franky's dream.

Chopper was still hard at work patching the crew up, although it looked like he'd managed to deplete most of the supplies he'd brought with him for the attack on Oneirosa. He was currently bending over Franky, who appeared to be genuinely knocked out in addition to suffering from dreamlessness, and the rest of the group was sporting a number of bandages as well. Nami had a minor heart attack when she trotted closer and discovered both Luffy and Zoro slumped back to back, eyes closed; the tension eased seconds later when the pair emitted rumbling snores almost simultaneously, and Luffy muttered something about meat under his breath. They were actually asleep, Nami realized with relief, not somehow regressing back into their dreamless states. She supposed they deserved the rest, real rest, after everything they'd been through. Robin looked quite tired as well, although she managed to stay awake just barely, quietly watching the proceedings.

"You found Cook-san's Dreamshard?" the archaeologist asked, as Nami reached the group.

"Yeah," Nami answered, and crouched next to the cook in question, who was stretched out on a cleared section of stone floor. Nami wasn't surprised to see him still unconscious; he looked pretty terrible, and had taken quite a beating from the Queen of the Night. She dropped the Dreamshard onto his chest and tapped it as lightly as she could manage to force it to be absorbed—she didn't want to damage his ribs any more than they already were, after all. The Dreamshard glittered innocently over his heart for a moment before slowly sinking through Sanji-kun's dress shirt into his body. He shivered slightly in unconsciousness, although he remained steadily out cold—which was probably a blessing for him, really.

Job completed, Nami sat down tiredly and finally gave herself a chance to rest as Chopper rushed over to examine her anxiously. What a long day—if someone had told Nami that morning that they would destroy the _entire_ colony of Nightmares living on Asteria, not to mention their Queen, she would have told them they were crazy. As it was, she still wasn't quite sure how they'd managed it—even for all their planning, they had barely escaped with their lives. It was satisfying to know they'd finally won, and that her entire crew would be okay again, but she really didn't want to think about that right now. Mostly, she just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep for a week.

Twenty more minutes passed, while Chopper bound up her wounds and tended to her shoulder injury, which had broken open again at some point. Nami watched Brook and Usopp still searching idly, barely managing to keep herself awake. She was seriously starting to consider taking a leaf from Luffy's and Zoro's books and going to sleep anyway, when Brook gave an enthusiastic shout and retrieved something from the ground in one of his pocket handkerchiefs. He and Usopp trotted over and presented the Dreamshard to her anxiously. "Is this it, Nami-san?" Brook asked.

"Looks right," Nami said tiredly, and wondered when exactly _she_ had become the resident expert on Dreamshard identification. "Get it in him and wake him up so we can leave." They obeyed, pressing the glittering gem into Franky's metal chest and shaking him awake, and in another ten minutes their cyborg was, if not in perfect condition, at least conscious and somewhat rested after his ordeal. Nami was relieved to see it. With the recovery of Franky's dream, everyone was accounted for. Their crew was whole again, if significantly beat up.

She stood once more, wincing when the last of Chopper's bandages pulled at her injured arm, and then staggered over to Luffy and Zoro, lightly kicking the two of them awake. Zoro came to with a grunt of surprise and twisted to glare at her in irritation. The movement disturbed Luffy, and no longer having Zoro for support, the captain crashed unceremoniously onto his side with his rubbery face pressed into the stone.

_"Hungry,"_ he whined almost immediately. Usopp hadn't had any snacks on him, meaning Luffy was still immobile after his overzealous expenditure of energy in _Gear Second_.

"I know, Luffy," Nami said tiredly. "I suggest we get out of here for the night and head back to the shed we were using earlier. We can eat up, rest, and figure out what else to do later." God, she just wanted to not think about _anything_ right now. She just wanted to sleep.

"I need to get my supplies there, too," Chopper added. "I brought some of my more cumbersome things from the _Sunny,_ but I didn't bring them with us to Oneirosa, and I need them now to treat Sanji's leg properly. I've splinted it for now with some of Franky's plank, but it really needs proper attention."

"Right!" Luffy said decisively. "Then let's go so we can eat!" He wriggled experimentally, barely moved an inch, and huffed in frustration. "Can't..._huuungryyyyy..._"

In the end they had to resort to the same sling they'd carried their captain in as before. Franky claimed he was still feeling 'super' and could manage that much, and they packed Luffy right back into the sailcloth contraption, although this time they left him with his head poking out so he could still see what was going on and talk to everyone. He found it thoroughly exciting and wriggled enthusiastically in his new method of transportation, chatting poor Franky's ear off. Nami almost felt sorry for their cyborg. The rest of them managed to walk on their own, although occasionally the group had to pause to let Robin or Zoro have much-needed breaks. Although they weren't dreamless anymore, they were still suffering the exhausting after-effects, and now that there was no longer a high-stakes battle and the two were no longer fueled by rage they seemed more susceptible than before. The sole exception was Sanji-kun, who had to be carried by Chopper very carefully in Heavy Point to keep his broken leg from taking further damage. Sanji-kun hadn't woken up for very long anyway due to his extensive injuries; he'd surfaced into consciousness for barely five minutes, long enough to curse Zoro a blue streak for some imagined transgression before passing out again.

They were weary, hurting, drained and hungry, but they were alive, every single one of them, in full. As the crew staggered its way out of Oneirosa, Nami kept that sole fact in her mind to keep her going. Survival was a wonderful motivator, after all.

* * *

><p>Several eventful days passed after the defeat of the Queen of the Night, although they weren't exactly the most active days in the Straw Hat Pirates' history.<p>

The crew had spent the night in the little storage shed that had initially served as their shelter and base of operations for their charge on Oneirosa City. With the Nightmares completely eradicated from the island there was no need to assign a watch or reset the _Sunny_-based traps that had protected them the night previous. So after filling their bellies (and in Luffy's case, recovering his hat) every single one of them had passed out cold, desperate for rest after the full-day battle they had only barely survived.

After that, they headed back for the _Thousand Sunny_. Although they had no intentions of leaving just yet, they were running low on supplies, and several of their members required the services of Chopper's more extensive infirmary. With no dangers of being attacked in the dead of night, the crew was able to travel non-stop, and managed to reach their beloved ship in a little over a day instead of the two it would have normally taken. It had been an absolute relief to see the _Sunny_ floating, nice and safe, out in the deeper ocean waters where Franky had left it before he, Chopper and Brook had mounted their rescue mission, now feeling like so long ago. They clambered onto the ship gratefully, and it was unanimously decided that the next few days were going to be entirely about taking it easy and recovering their wits after the last frightening few days.

And the rest was almost certainly needed. The crew had collectively accrued so many injuries and after-effects that for the first day they largely resembled an escaped collection of zombies from Thriller Bark more than the Straw Hat Pirates.

The most obvious malady was the residual effects of dreamlessness, which over half the crew possessed. Franky and Sanji-kun were sluggish and sleepy for barely a day, and had largely recovered from that particular effect by the time the crew had reached the _Sunny_. But Luffy, Zoro and Robin were hit far harder by the exhausting after-effects, having been dreamless for far longer. Luffy spent his first few days back on the ship dozing almost as much as Zoro normally did. He was abnormally hungry too, even for Luffy (a fact that did not make poor Sanji-kun very happy), apparently from the desire to make up for three days of missed nutrients. It wasn't uncommon for Zoro to sleep on a regular basis—it seemed like it was the only thing he ever _did_ around the ship under usual circumstances—but now he was lethargic almost constantly, and abandoned training entirely in favor of napping. He'd even fallen asleep in the middle of a verbal spar with Sanji-kun, much to the cook's astonishment. Robin was more careful about hiding the effects dreamlessness had had upon her, but Nami had caught the archaeologist nodding off more than once while reading, and seen her snoozing gently in her lawn chair on three separate occasions.

Zoro and Robin displayed other reactions besides physical ones too, possibly because they could still remember their ordeals in part. Zoro was so possessive of his swords it bordered on paranoia, holding on to the white one in particular even in his sleep. And Robin spent an inordinate amount of time in the library, even for her, like she was reminding herself of something. Strangely, Luffy didn't seem to have any psychological repercussions. Perhaps it was because his dreamless state had been more like a coma, and he still claimed to remember nothing of the incident. Or maybe it was because the Queen of the Night was defeated, and in Luffy's mind that meant the problem was over with. Whatever the case, other than his unusual sleepiness and lack of energy, Luffy appeared entirely normal. And after a few days, the effects upon all three of them, both physical and psychological, gradually disappeared, until there was no evidence that the incident had ever occurred at all.

Of course, that was only for the dreamlessness. In terms of fighting for their lives, there were still _plenty_ of reminders. Most of them had still taken pretty decent beatings, and it would be a while before the bruises would fade and the gashes would seal themselves up. Luffy possessed crisscrossing lacerations all over his hands, from where he'd punctured his rubber fists on shattered bones with his _Gatling_ attacks, and at Chopper's insistence his hands were heavily bandaged for days. Robin's hands were heavily damaged as well from the vicious burns given when she had handled Usopp's dream weaponry, and her arms were gashed in multiple places from earlier fights with the Nightmares, not to mention she sported superficial bite wounds from when the wayward Harvester had seized her in Oneirosa's streets. Franky's back had been slashed up badly by the Nightmares when his Dreamshard had been stolen, and the creatures clawed Luffy's sling from his back, although the cyborg appeared more upset that they'd managed to steal his captain from him than by the injuries themselves.

And those were the least injured of their group; others' injuries were more significant. Nami herself had been injured pretty badly (a fact that Sanji-kun would simply not stop apologizing for and reaming Zoro out on simultaneously). Her hands possessed nasty burns from the Dreamshards, and her entire body had been slashed up by the splintered bones she'd fallen on when the Harvester had tried to pin her down. But the worst by far was still the gash in her arm that the Attendant had given her. In the battle through Oneirosa she'd managed to not only break it open, but make it worse, and in the end Chopper had been forced to give her stitches in order to properly treat it. He promised her it would look fine in the end, and Nami certainly hoped he was right. She did not look forward to having a wide scar to match her tattoo. Zoro might be okay with that sort of thing, but she sure as hell wasn't!

The swordsman had, unsurprisingly, come out of the whole ordeal entirely worse for the wear. Nami was beginning to think he actively _tried_ to collect scars, the idiot. Chopper had been forced to re-stitch the bite wound Zoro had managed to give himself during his fight in Remia, just before his dream had been stolen, due to the first stitches being torn in the battle against the Queen. His shoulder had been sliced wide open as well from his failed attempt to stop Robin from being dragged off, requiring _heavy_ bandaging, and the deep stab wound in his stomach had practically given poor Chopper anxiety attacks. They were just lucky the Queen hadn't managed to hit anything especially vital that required surgery, or he most certainly would have died two days from the necessary equipment on the _Sunny_. And of course the swordsman was covered in his usual collection of gashes, cuts and bruises, not to mention the red, hilt-shaped burn scar on his hand that Zoro glared more furiously at than any of his other injuries.

Zoro was definitely a mess, but for once Nami was inclined to think Sanji-kun had actually come off worse. The cook had already gone into the Oneirosa fight with his fair share of injuries, like the deep gash in his shoulder from the first Shepherd they'd met, or half a dozen other bruises and slashes from other encounters. Those had only been added to in Oneirosa, with Sanji-kun being so frequently called upon to clear out the more dangerous enemies. And the worst of his injuries came from the Queen of the Night herself: several of his ribs had been badly cracked, and his right leg had been broken in two places from a combination of over-using his _Diable Jambe_ and the Queen's highly resistant hide. Although it was impossible to keep him bedridden completely (though through no lack of trying on Chopper's part) the cook was still disgusted to learn he'd have to take it easy for the better part of a month, at least. Not to mention he was highly irritable about being the only member of the crew to lose his dream not once, but twice. It made him very surly around the boys (although he was his usual over-enthusiastic self around the girls), and he couldn't even fight with Zoro to relieve some of the tension, due to his damaged leg. Nami almost felt sorry for him, until their verbal spats became so loud they could be heard anywhere on the ship—then it was all she could do to keep from giving him a skull fracture to add to his list of bone-related injuries.

Even Usopp had more serious injuries than usual, probably because he was in the thick of the fights far more often than he tended to be usually as a sniper. He, too, was covered in a number of scrapes and bruises, the worst one of all being the gaping chest wound that slashed angrily across his front; almost, it looked as though he was trying to imitate Zoro's chest scar, though going in the opposite direction. The gash razoring up his arm from where he'd rescued the freshly-dreamless Zoro was equally prominent, and sounded like it would scar, although Usopp seemed more excited by the prospect than not. Nami supposed he was looking forward to having some sort of fodder for his stories, or perhaps just proof that it had been_ him_ saving one of the monster trio for once, instead of the other way around.

Only Chopper and Brook had escaped the mess relatively unscathed. Both were covered in minor nicks and bruises (or in Brook's case, small cracks and chips), but beyond that they seemed healthy enough. Being the center of the musical stun, Brook hadn't come close to the Nightmares very often, and Chopper's thick fur had likely protected him from the brunt of the slashes and bites the Nightmares had tried to hand out. The little reindeer honestly seemed more concerned for his antlers, which had been scratched and cracked pretty badly from all the encounters.

So the Straw Hats had definitely earned, and deserved, a good few days of rest. But by the end of the third day, while Nami couldn't say they were fully_ recovered,_ she could declare with some degree of truth that they were much better off than before. Zoro had started removing his bandages against orders (always a good sign he was feeling better), Franky was doing his ridiculous_ super_ dances again, Robin was beginning to look over the notes she had taken on the island, and Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were careening around the deck once more in enthusiastic games of tag and hide-and-go-seek. Sanji-kun was forced to hobble around on crutches, but he was no stranger to leg-related injuries and could still move around with surprising speed. And all of the formerly dreamless pirates were back to their usual selves once more.

So it was unsurprising that they held an unofficial meeting that night, to decide how to handle things next.

"I want to explore the island more," Luffy said without preamble. He looked pouty, and added unhappily, "I barely got to see _anything_ so far, and I missed the whole adventure. That's no fair!"

"Luffy," Usopp said in exasperation, "You helped us beat up the mother of all monsters—_literally!_ How is that _not_ being part of the adventure?"

"But I didn't get to fight anything else, or see the cool temples, or come up with neat weapons," the captain complained, planting his hand firmly on his hat. "I could have been so cool! _Thousand Luffy!_ It'd be even more awesome than armor!"

"You really didn't miss much, Luffy," the sniper muttered, shaking his head.

"I, for one, would like to return to the Temple of Dreams," Robin interjected. "The building was extremely large, and I believe we haven't explored all of it yet. The Temple was obviously the center of this society's religion and culture, and I am very interested in uncovering the history of this island, now that it no longer presents a danger."

"Robin-chan is simply brilliant!" Sanji-kun cooed. "I am sure you'll be able to uncover every secret in the city! No, on the whole island!"

"Perhaps you will be able to uncover where these creatures came from as well, Robin-san," Brook added helpfully. "We still don't know for certain how they came to this world, after all—only that they are somehow connected to that archway Usopp-san destroyed."

The others clamored in agreement. They, too, would _definitely_ like to find the answer to that question.

"Perhaps," Robin agreed. "However, what I saw of the Temple as we exited it was a bit discouraging. The Nightmares tore up its interior quite a bit, and that may make navigating it difficult. Perhaps if Franky and Usopp were to assist me with their engineering skills, we would be able to speed up the search."

"Sure thing!" Franky said immediately, taking on his trademark pose confidently. "I'm a _super_ architect as well as a shipwright. This'll be no prob!"

"The Great Captain Usopp will gladly offer his amazing engineering skills for the cause," the sniper added dramatically.

Nami nodded and said, "That sounds like a good plan. While you guys are doing that, I think I'll survey the island for my map. After all this, at least I'll have the most accurate recording of Asteria Island in centuries."

"Nami-swaaaaan! Allow me to travel with you and carry your equipment!" Sanji-kun said enthusiastically. He managed to wiggle even on his crutches, and Nami was genuinely concerned he would somehow tip himself over.

"Absolutely not, Sanji-kun," she said decisively. "You can get around well enough on deck with those crutches, but there's no way you're up to hiking right now. I'll take Luffy and Zoro with me. Luffy wants to explore anyway, and Zoro can carry my stuff."

Luffy grinned widely. Zoro glared daggers at her. "Don't volunteer me for things, witch!"

"Oh, _please,_" Nami said with a wave of her hand. "I took care of your swords for two days. The least you can do is carry my things around for me."

Zoro grit his teeth angrily, and very much looked like he wanted to argue but couldn't bring himself to do it. She'd hit him right in the gut with the sword comment, for sure. Privately, she was _very_ happy he hadn't actually been conscious or aware enough to remember the way the entire crew had manhandled his swords for the past few days, otherwise she had a feeling his reaction would be markedly different.

"Cook-san can come with me if he likes," Robin added. "The path to Oneirosa will be much easier to traverse, and perhaps he can find a way to help with the Temple excavation."

"I live to serve, Robin-chan! Ask me anything, and I'll be yours to command!" Sanji-kun said delightedly. To Zoro, he added, "You'd better not ruin any of Nami-san's equipment, marimo, or there will be hell to pay."

"From who? _You?_ What're you gonna do, hobble after me and call me names? Yeah, that'll work_ real_ well, curly-brow."

"Just wait until I get this cast off, shit swordsman—"

Nami interrupted them both with a fist to each skull, and they fell silent with one sullen glare and one profuse apology. "What about you guys?" she asked, turning to Chopper and Brook.

"I should stay with Sanji," the doctor said. "If he's going to be active I want to keep an eye on his broken ribs and leg, just in case."

"I would be happy to accompany Nami-san on her exploratory trip," Brook added. "I would be most willing to carry some of the equipment too, if you would like!"

"That's fine," Nami accepted. "The extra hands might be helpful anyway. So, it's decided then?"

"Looks like it," Usopp said. "Me, Robin, Franky, Sanji and Chopper will head to the city, and you, Luffy, Zoro, and Brook will take care of exploring the rest of the island."

Nami nodded. "This island is pretty big, based on what we've seen," she said. "It might take a few days. Let's say we plan to meet up in Oneirosa in about a week? That should give me plenty of time to take notes for my maps, and hopefully you guys can dig up something interesting in the city."

"With luck," Robin agreed. "That sounds reasonable."

"Right!" Luffy agreed, punching one rubbery fist into the air. "Then everybody rest up, and Sanji, make sure you pack enough pirate lunches for everybody! Tomorrow we're going exploring!"

* * *

><p>So they did, and contrary to everything else that had happened on Asteria Island, that week was one of the more peaceful and enjoyable ones Nami had had since she'd reached the Grand Line.<p>

Sanji-kun packed them enough food to last a week, even with _Luffy_ on their exploration team, and between the three boys it was easy to cart around both their meals and her surveying equipment with relative ease. Without the threat of the Nightmares hanging over their heads, hiding in the trees or the villages waiting to feast upon their despair, Asteria Island was a very beautiful and enjoyable island to visit. The temperature was perfect, the trees remained frozen in bright reds and golds and yellows, the forests weren't so clogged with undergrowth that it was impossible to traverse them, and the pathways to the other villages on the island, while old, were still easy to navigate. Recording the information here would be infinitely easier than some of the wild, overgrown islands the crew had visited in the past.

It was easy to lose herself in her work, and Nami was _definitely_ dedicated to getting Asteria correct on her maps. It wasn't just that it would it be the first accurate representation of the island in _full_ ever since the arrival of the Nightmares centuries ago, as she had told the boys, although that was part of it. But she also felt like she owed it to the island, somehow, to show not just its shape on a map or its placement in the Grand Line, but to show as well the civilization that had once been here. Every time she thought of the hundreds of scattered bones, the _thousands_ of dead Dreamshards and desperate cries in the Queen of the Night's single voice, she could only think of the fact that she didn't know a single one of those peoples' names, or dreams, or lives. Perhaps she couldn't make it so all of them were remembered; but at least she could make sure their world was, before the creatures came that destroyed them all. It was very important to her, somehow, that she show that.

The others sensed her dedication to this particular task, and seemed to understand. Zoro complained frequently about being turned into her pack mule, but never about her taking too long or needing to get something just right, and Luffy and Brook were eager to help with any little tasks she could find to give them. And she could tell the boys were enjoying themselves, too. Luffy was certainly making up for his three days of near-comatose dreamlessness by exploring every nook and cranny of every village they came across, searching for meat or a new friend or some sort of other adventure no matter how many times the rest of them assured him there was _none_ of that here anymore. Brook was perfectly willing to be his partner in crime, not to mention that he burst into song on an almost regular basis for no reason at all (but it was still too soon for Nami to begrudge him that just yet). And when Zoro wasn't busy carting around their things, he always seemed to find an especially comfortable patch of ground in a pool of sunlight, or a particularly large tree branch placed just perfectly to catch a cool breeze, that he could nap in quite easily.

So they were able to create a comfortable routine without trouble, and by the end of the appointed week Nami was reasonably sure they had explored every single major village on the interior of the island. She would need to climb the walls of Oneirosa to survey it from a central, high area to be sure, but she had definitely gotten a lot of work done.

With her new and improved notes it was simple to guide the boys back towards Oneirosa City, and they arrived in mid-afternoon on the appointed day. Getting through the city was still tricky (they lost Zoro twice, much to Nami's frustration) but in the end they managed to make it to the great Temple of Dreams once more. The overbearing evil taint it had seemed to emit before had long since vanished, and Nami was in awe of the beauty and majesty of the great crystalline building, stretching up and up and up above them. Luffy promptly declared he was going to climb it, and it was only with the timely arrival of Usopp at the enormous front doors of the building that they were able to stop him from rocketing himself to the topmost crystal spire and (all too probably) wrecking the beautiful, final remnant of the people that had lived here by accident.

"It's good to see you guys!" the sniper said excitedly, waving to them. "Did you map out the island?"

"Most of it," Nami said. "How about you guys, any luck?"

"Lots!" Usopp said enthusiastically. "You've gotta come see this, wait until you see what we found!" He gestured for them to follow, and Luffy bounced up the steps excitedly, pestering Usopp for details as he dragged Brook after him. Nami and Zoro followed at a slower pace, which gave the navigator an opportunity she'd been waiting for all week. With all the group exploration there'd been little time to pull Zoro aside, but there had been something she'd wanted to address with him for days now.

"Er...Zoro," she began, a little hesitant. He blinked at her, looking a little puzzled, and Nami supposed she couldn't blame him; normally she didn't beat around the bush for this sort of thing. "I just...wanted to apologize. When we fought the Queen of the Night, I didn't have any other way to find your dream, so I had to...well, I had to look at it. I tried not to peek too much, but—"

"Don't bother."

Nami blinked in surprise. That wasn't what she expected to hear. Zoro had always been close-mouthed about his past; she thought he'd been angry that she'd seen such things. "Are you sure? I mean, I know you don't talk about that stuff much—"

He shrugged. "You're nakama, so it's okay." He did look a little uncomfortable, but he definitely sounded like he meant it, as well. At least he trusted them that much. She would never doubt Zoro's loyalty after all they'd been through, but sometimes it was difficult to tell in regards to other things, the way he kept some secrets so close.

"Alright." She hesitated, and then added, "I'll keep it to myself, though. Unless you tell me otherwise."

Zoro's expressions were difficult to read at the best of times, but Nami could definitely make out the quiet gratitude in his eyes then. He was okay with Nami having seen parts of his dream, but he definitely didn't want that knowledge to be treated so casually. Nami could respect that, and she would, too.

They hurried to catch up to Usopp, Luffy and Brook now. Usopp was chattering animatedly to his fellow crew mates, who were hanging onto every word. "—noticed it was a weird place for the rubble to build up, so I told Franky about it, and he agreed that there was probably a load-bearing wall behind it all. So we cleared it away with Robin's and Chopper's help and we found a whole crystal _room_. Robin's in there now, she's been there for days. There were a lot of papers and stuff in it that she's been translating."

"Where's everyone else?" Nami asked, as Usopp led them down a complex series of hallways. Robin had been right—most of these places had been blocked off when they'd stormed the Temple days ago, but with the rubble cleared away there were a lot more accessible places in the Temple than before. Nami had thought the enormous chamber the Queen had lived in made up the bulk of the building, but it seemed it was much larger than even that. The rest of the crew could be anywhere in this.

"Franky's off on the west side of the Temple right now," Usopp explained, as he turned and led them down yet another rubble-cleared hallway. They were well inside the building now, Nami could tell, mostly because all the walls were made of stone instead of the brilliant crystal that encased the outside of the Temple. "There's still a few rooms over there, we think, and he's trying to figure out a way to open them up without collapsing the ceiling. It's pretty tricky, the Nightmares really did a number on this place. Sanji and Chopper have been out exploring the rest of the city to see if there's anything else really important here. And Robin is here," the sniper finished with a flourish, as he led them into a room. "Hey, Robin, look! Everyone else just got here."

Nami stepped into the room and found her eyes widening in surprise. Luffy's excited _"Awesome!"_ next to her just about summed up her feelings on this new, uncovered room. It wasn't exactly vast—it probably wasn't much bigger than the weight room on the _Sunny_—but it made up for its relatively small size by being constructed almost entirely out of the same crystal that the outside of the building consisted of. All four walls were glittering brightly in the candle light from the collapsible lamps spread around the room, and Nami could see the twisted, shattered wreckage of what had probably once been a door not too far from where they stood, also made of crystal. Only the floor and ceiling were of stone—or what was left of the ceiling, anyway. Most of it was gone, leaving a gaping hole just large enough for a Harvester into the rooms beyond. Nami shivered slightly at what that probably meant—but it was okay now. All of the creatures were dead.

A stone table had been hastily constructed out of what looked like a former part of the ceiling, likely Franky's handiwork. Robin was seated at the table on a makeshift stone chair, and spread before her on the table were pages—dozens an dozens of pages of parchment, old, withered and fragile-looking, stained with age. Nami could see several of the symbols normally found on the poneglyphs scribbled onto those pages, although most of the characters were so faded it was almost impossible to make them out, and Nami was surprised Robin could read them at all. The archaeologist had quite an extensive system working on the table: hands sprouted from it everywhere, some with eyes planted in their palms, aiding her in the process of...of whatever she was doing. Robin herself was bent over a single sheaf of parchment, her natural hands folded across her chest in concentration, but several other hands and eyes were scanning other pieces of parchment, delicately shifting the pages and sorting them into stacks, and consulting between each other when cross referencing information. Nami even saw a pair of hands studiously recording fully translated information in Robin's notebook, with another pair of eyes overseeing and another hand helpfully holding the inkwell.

Robin was deeply absorbed in her work, and it took Usopp a second try to catch her attention. Blinking, she looked up at the new arrivals, and smiled slightly. "Ah...has it been a week already? It seems the expression is right...time does fly."

"What did you find, Robin?" Luffy asked enthusiastically, as he bounded forward to investigate the table. One rubbery hand reached out for the nearest piece of old parchment, and alarm flashed in Robin's eyes. Quick as lightning several arms sprouted from Luffy's chest, wrenching his limb back before he could manage to touch everything.

Luffy looked surprised, and Robin said, "I apologize, captain, but these documents are extremely fragile. Even the slightest touch could destroy them if they are not handled properly. I must ask that you refrain from coming into contact with them."

"Oh," Luffy said, as Robin's hands released him. "Well, okay then, I guess. But what are they?"

Robin smiled, and the expression was warm, like she was truly enjoying herself. "It's history," she said simply. Luffy only blinked at her, expression puzzled, and she added, "This room appears to have once been a vault for the society's holy relics and documents. Much of Asteria's ancient culture was safely stored here."

"Vault?" Nami asked, interest piqued. If they had a vault, then there might be treasure, as well.

"Yes." Several arms sprouted from the back wall against the crystal, and with careful precision peeled open a small, carved crystalline door that had been cleverly disguised and worked into the wall's surface. A small space, approximately two feet square, had been carved into the crystal wall. Nami could see a few scraps of old cloth, some stone statues, and several other stacks of parchment that Robin must have already finished looking at safely stored inside, but nothing that looked particularly valuable. Rats.

"We think these guys knew that this crystal repels those Nightmares," Usopp said helpfully. "They couldn't come inside after us when we closed the Temple doors after all. And it seems pretty indestructible too—none of the crystal parts of the Temple have been destroyed or worn down even though centuries have passed. We figure this safe was carved in here way before even the Nightmares showed up to protect stuff."

Robin nodded in agreement. "Several of the relics in the vault coincide with some of the religious procedures I have since read about in these documents," the archaeologist agreed, as her hands carefully closed the safe once more and vanished. "I suspect this was a place of respectful storage for all of their most holy objects, and the resting place of their written doctrine. Many of the stories we discovered in the other villages' chapels are recorded in full here, as well."

"What about the Nightmares?" Zoro prompted. "Find out where they come into this yet?"

Robin hesitated. "Stories, mostly," she said slowly. "Having witnessed the presence of the Queen herself, I am convinced that she was a very old, and very_ real_, threat to these people long before her arrival in the Temple. Many of their religious procedures speak of protecting the civilians with their own dreams, so that the Queen's children would not steal them away in the night."

Nami frowned. "But no explanation on how she showed up here?"

Robin was silent for a very long time, as if considering how to answer. Then she said, her voice still slow and measured, "I may have come across an answer." The others leaned forward with interest, and she waved one of her natural hands at the pages in front of her, and the plethora of arms that had stopped their work when Robin did. "This document is...unusual. It doesn't seem to fit the pattern that everything else found in the vault does. All of those objects were of cultural significance—holy totems, important relics, stories of the religion and the heroes that defended it. This document appears to be a perfectly ordinary journal, insignificant in the slightest."

Insignificant to the people that had once lived on this island, at least. Nami understood what Robin was getting at. "You think that means it's something important?"

"Perhaps," Robin said. "It has been difficult to translate. The holy documents were treated specially and were well-preserved, even after centuries. This document was not, and its information is hand-written—it is a personal journal, and I doubt it was ever intended for anyone but its owner to view. It is fortunate it was stored in the vault for all these years, or I suspect it would have long since been destroyed."

"You can do it, Robin," Luffy said confidently. "I want to know where that stupid Queen came from, anyway." A flash of a scowl flitted across his face, although it was gone as fast as it came, and Nami knew he still hated the whole lot of the creatures for messing so severely with his dream, and those of his crew mates.

Robin smiled at her captain's confidence in her. "I will do my best, Luffy," she said. "But it will certainly take me a few more hours, at least. I've been working on the translation for several days now. By now I am close to the end, but that doesn't make the procedure any less difficult."

"We'll leave you to that, then," Nami said, and grabbed Luffy by the back of his collar to drag him away from the table, which he was inching closer to curiously again. "C'mon, Luffy, let's have Usopp show us all the other things they found here."

Luffy took to the suggestion immediately, and eagerly darted out of the door, dragging Usopp with him. Zoro and Brook followed at a more leisurely pace, and once again Nami took the opportunity to speak with Robin alone, working up the courage to address the same issue that she'd just spoken to with Zoro.

"It's perfectly fine, Nami-chan," Robin said calmly, before the navigator could even get the first word out.

Nami blinked in surprise. "How do you know—"

"I am aware that you had to touch upon my dream in order to identify it," Robin said simply. "And of course I know the effects of the Dreamshards. They are quite unsettling, but I assure you, I don't blame you in the least for looking at my dream."

"You don't?"

"Not at all," Robin said, turning back to her work. "You are my nakama, after all. I am quite confident my dream is safe in the hands of any of our crew."

It was essentially the same thing Zoro had said—because they were nakama, it was okay for her to have peeked at their dreams, however unintentionally, no matter how intimate that unintentional look felt. Nami felt relieved that both of them were okay with her ultimately prying into their lives, and strangely honored that both of them trusted her so fully with their most valuable possessions.

"Thanks," Nami said. "I promise I'll keep it to myself, though." Like Zoro, she could honor Robin's trust in her, at least. Robin simply nodded, a soft smile on her face, and after a moment Nami turned to catch up with the others and leave her to her work.

She didn't even bother to try and pull Luffy aside. From the moment she touched his dream she knew he would never blame her for seeing it, would be more than happy to share it with her. Perhaps that was unsurprising, considering he had already done it in the past: it was Luffy's determination, and Luffy's enthusiasm, that had ultimately given her the strength to pursue her own dream, after all. If she apologized, he'd probably just laugh at her.

Usopp was chattering animatedly about the various rooms that they had found in the Temple now, and probably embellishing the story considerably if his ten near-death experiences so far were anything to go by. Luffy and Brook were just as enthusiastic with sharing their own adventures around the island, with Nami occasionally interjecting to correct something (and keeping an eye on Zoro so he didn't wander off; the Temple was big enough that it would take them hours to find him again if he did). Usopp took them on a tour around the Temple, pointing out rooms here and there and explaining briefly what Robin had deduced they were for. It seemed the Temple was a positively enormous complex, one that had likely housed hundreds of priests back in its day. Asteria had been a thriving place, once.

Usopp took them to visit Franky as well, on the other side of the Temple. The cyborg greeted them with enthusiastic _ows_, professing to be 'so glad to see my little bros again!' Nami could have kicked him for it. They chatted with him for a few minutes, but eventually left him to his work, which he insisted was a little too dangerous for most of them to hang about idly. Zoro was press-ganged into helping him due to his monstrous strength, while Usopp, Nami, Brook, and Luffy (the last too bored with the complex building work to be interested) headed back to the main halls of the building.

Almost inevitably, they came to the grand worship hall, where the Queen of the Night had perched on her macabre nest and ordered her children to hunt for her. It seemed all halls led to this enormous room, the center of Asteria's whole culture, whole religion...and, the Straw Hats knew somehow, also its final demise.

"We mostly left it alone," Usopp said, with a soft, hushed voice, as though he were at a funeral. Nami couldn't blame him. It felt almost impolite to do anything else. "We're not really sure what to do with all the...the bones, and the Dreamshards, yet."

Nami stepped into the room first, tentatively, as though expecting the great Queen to leap out of the deepest corners and swallow her whole. Nothing happened, and the others filed into the room after her slowly, looking around. Usopp had spoken the truth—somebody had carefully, and respectfully pushed the bones and Dreamshards aside to carve a small path from one side of the room to the other, but beyond that it remained the same as Nami had seen it last. Afternoon sunlight glittered through the crystal dome above, casting wide rainbows down on the scattered bones below, and every Dreamshard that caught the light flickered like a small, multicolored flame. The Queen's nest of dead dreams and dead people still stood, surrounding the broken remains of the crystal arch protectively, and it was so studded with glinting Dreamshards that it almost burned to look in that direction.

There was so much _wealth_ here. One little Dreamshard alone back on Adamantina Island had been worth almost as much as Zoro's bounty. These specimens were, for the most part, even larger than the ones she had seen back on the island, and there were _thousands_ of them here. If they were to bring them back to Adamantina, the crew would be set for life. They would never lack for funds again.

Tempted, Nami crouched down and plucked one of the larger Dreamshards from the floor. It flickered through a full range of color as she rolled it over her palms and fingers. This one was worth one hundred fifty million beri, easy. Would it really be so bad? It didn't belong to anyone, after all, and it was dead—

But no. No. That was the problem, she realized with a sigh, as she stopped rolling the little gem over in her hands, stared down at it with an expression of disgust on her face. It might be a dead Dreamshard, and it might not belong to one of her friends, but that didn't stop her from knowing what it was. Its owner was likely long dead, but this had once been his or her powerful dream, a collection of images and feelings and memories so powerful, so intimate, that no other person would be able to handle them without burning. Its owner had made the same sorrow-filled scream as her friends when this innocent little shard was ripped from them, and they had been empty until death, their last moments filled with little more than hopelessness, fear, and sadness, as the evil Queen fed upon them.

This shard and its owner had been through enough suffering without Nami to profit off of their horrifying ending, and the same thing was true for every single other Dreamshard that studded the room. If it was hers, and she was long forgotten with her Dreamshard ripped free, all she would want was to finally be put to rest. Shaking her head slightly, she carefully placed the Dreamshard back on the floor and stood up from her crouch, leaving it be.

That was when she realized that Luffy was watching her. She blinked in surprise as she rose from the floor and found Luffy's blank, highly attentive gaze turned on her, just watching, observing. After a moment his eyes flicked to the floor, and the Dreamshard she had replaced, and then back to her. He smiled then, a grin of approval, and nodded quietly at her before turning back to explore the rest of the room. Nami understood. To Luffy, dreams were everything, and never, ever meant to be disrespected—even if the dreamers were dead.

She wondered, briefly, what would have happened if she _had_ insisted on taking some of the Dreamshards to sell. She shook her head after a moment. Whatever the answer was, she didn't want to know. The decision had been made, and wasn't worth thinking about any more.

They poked around the enormous worship room for a good ten minutes, but there wasn't much left that they hadn't already seen during the battle with the Queen. Nami once again supposed that it must have been beautiful in the days when people still lived here, and likely decorated with nicer things than dead dreams and human and animal remains, but it was impossible to really imagine it as a place other than the nest of torment and cruelty.

_"Nami-swaaaaaan!"_ came a delighted trilling from behind her. Nami turned to find Sanji-kun and Chopper standing in the main entranceway of the massive room—the one that faced the enormous double doors of the Temple, which Franky had cleared out days ago. Sanji-kun was hobbling towards her enthusiastically now, picking his way carefully around the bones with his crutches, and looked positively ecstatic. "Nami-swan, I'm so happy to see you after all this time! Are you okay? Those idiots treated you properly, didn't they? Marimo didn't break your equipment, did he? I wish I could have gone with you!"

"It's only been a week, Sanji-kun," she said in exasperation. "You'd think we'd been separated for years, the way you talk. And I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much."

"You found _what?_ Cool!" Came Luffy's voice from across the way. Nami glanced over. He was talking enthusiastically to Chopper, who appeared to be describing something in great detail to his captain, Usopp, and Brook.

"What's that about?" she asked.

"Oh," Sanji-kun said, and seemed to calm himself enough to speak relatively normally. "Me'n Chopper have been poking around the rest of the city, to see if we could find anything else of interest besides this Temple. We figured the Nightmares treated this place with a lot of importance, but they might have missed something significant to humans somewhere else."

"And you found something?" Nami asked, intrigued.

"We're not really sure," Sanji-kun admitted. "We found something that seems a bit like a city hall or some other important building. The architecture seems pretty different from everything else in this city, makes it stand out—kinda the same as this Temple, but this other building isn't made of crystal. We couldn't get inside it though. The whole thing is pretty unstable, and we didn't want to bring it down on our heads."

"Smart move," Nami said, and was thankfully Luffy wasn't with them—he probably would have gone in anyway.

"Thank you, Nami-san!" the cook trilled, pleased with the compliment. "Anyway, we'll have to wait for Robin-chan to identify it and see if it really _is_ important, and Franky will have to stabilize it before we can really explore it further. But it did seem pretty special."

"Maybe there'll be more documents inside," Nami said. "Robin seems to have found a lot of religious stuff here, but nothing about the day-to-day affairs—"

"Luffy."

Everyone looked up, surprised. Robin stood in the doorway, arms clutched almost protectively around her bound notebook, and the expression on her face was one of absolute seriousness. She glanced around at them once, and then fixed her gaze on her captain and said, "Luffy. I finished the translation, and it does indeed have an answer to tell how all of _this_ happened." She waved quietly at the bones and scattered, dead dreams.

Luffy was an idiot of a captain, but Nami gave him credit for one thing: he definitely knew when to be serious, when it counted. "Usopp," he ordered, "Go get Zoro and Franky. Everyone should hear this."

"That would be best," Robin agreed. "Meet us on the Temple steps. I have a feeling this is a story that is best heard in the light." Usopp paled slightly, but darted off to do as told, and the rest of them shuffled carefully through the bones to the outside, every single one of them oddly solemn.

It took ten minutes for Usopp to arrive with Zoro and Franky. The sniper must have told them what was going on, because they, too, looked quite serious when they arrived, and took seats on the stone steps without hesitation. Robin nodded quietly at their arrival, and sat down before the group on a large piece of stone in front of the steps, opening her notebook.

"The papers I was translating belonged to a man named Rezzik Nazuul," she explained. "He was a new initiate into the priesthood centered around the dream mythos here. The documents were his personal journal, one that he started recording from the day he finally entered the priesthood as a novice, up until his death. They explain everything. I could simplify, but...I feel it would be best for everyone to hear the full translation, instead."

No one argued, and after a moment Luffy said, "Okay, Robin. Go ahead and read it to us, then."

Robin nodded, and turning to her notebook, slowly began to read the records of the past out loud.

* * *

><p><strong>Fun fact:<strong> The priest's name there, Rezzik Nazuul, is a reference to some original characters of mine. The Harvesters in this story are based off one original character named Na'Azul, a living nightmare who comes from a dreamworld, and Na'Azul is the familiar of another character whom 'Rezzik' derives from.

Right, one more chapter after this, guys!

~VelkynKarma


	20. Truth

**Asteria Nightmare**

Part twenty of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

**Note:** And here we are at last, for real this time: the final chapter to this ridiculously long epic. May I just say, thank you guys so much for sticking it through to the end. Special thanks to my** Anonymous viewers**...I'm sorry I could never respond to you guys, since you all had very interesting comments, but I love you all too :)

**Music Box:** For the 'funeral' at the end, I had particularly envisioned this piece:  
>www (dot) youtube (dot) com (slash) watch?v=zaLoBdqcvVY<br>It's cellos, not violins, but it's definitely still soulful enough.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, or pretend to own, _One Piece_ or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

* * *

><p>"I just know there's no escape now<br>Once it sets its eyes on you  
>But I won't run, have to stare it in the eye<p>

Stand my ground, I won't give in  
>No more denying, I got to face it<br>Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside  
>If I don't make it, someone else will stand my ground."<br>~_Stand__ My__ Ground, _Within Temptation

* * *

><p><strong>March 21, 658 AOS<strong>  
>Today is a joyous occasion. After years of study, I have finally passed the final initiation into the ranks of the Dream Oracles! I am simply delighted at my success. Ever since I was a child and attended the ceremonies at the Dream Chapel in Remia, I have dreamed of becoming a worthy priest of the order. My new masters tell me this is precisely what they look for in dedicated Oracles, and that with hard work, effort and caring I will climb the ranks. They tell me I could even be a Master Oracle myself in ten years. I am exhilarated and will certainly do my best to contribute to the order and help the citizens of Asteria in any way I can.<p>

Sadly, today is not joyous for everybody. Thirty initiates were brought to the Great Seer for the final test: entry via meditation into the Dream World, to prove our faith in ourselves and our devotion to the people. Only twenty-three returned. The final seven were unfortunately not skilled enough to protect the desires of their hearts, and their dreamcores were stolen from them forever. While it is possible to recover them, the Great Seer does not seem to think it will happen. It is a sad thing, but I feel he is probably right. The Dream World is vast, and the Queen of the Night knows it far better than even the highest ranking members of the order. It is her native homeland, after all. She is familiar with every aspect of the world, even the beautiful places within it that she detests, and her children know it well too by proxy. She has likely already stolen away to the far corners of the World with the cores, waiting patiently for the trapped, desperate souls to wander closer so that she might feed upon their misery. A cursory search by Master Oracles will of course be performed, but if they find nothing in the span of one day, the still-muttering bodies of the fallen will be put to their final rest to keep the Queen from growing even more powerful. There is simply nothing we can do for them.

But alas! Now is not the time for such sorrows. Seven brave souls we have lost, but twenty-three we have gained—including, I am happy to say, myself! Most of my fellow initiates will be sent around the island to various chapels to assist the Oracles there until such a time when they might at last take over in leading worship, but the Master Oracles have decided to keep me here, within the Temple of Dreams. They are impressed with my devotion and skill and wish to keep me close for further training. I am so happy to finally be living my dream!

**April 15, 658 AOS**  
>It has been some time since I have written of my Oracle duties. I have been incredibly busy aiding the Master Oracles in any way possible, and it has left very little free time for myself.<p>

Recently we have begun receiving many concerned messages from the Oracles located throughout the villages on Asteria. It seems that although the citizenry is well enough during the day, at night they are plagued by the Queen's children, seeing them more and more within their dreams. This is a puzzling turn of events, and the Master Oracles have had me consulting the prophecies and the ancient records searching for clues. For now, the citizenry is safe: one of our many duties as Oracles of the Dream is to shield the less fortunate with our own, mighty dreams, in order to protect their sleeping moments. But something must be done soon to resolve this issue, or it _will_ eventually become a problem. Although no one person can enter the World of Dreams in full without intensive training, the barrier is weakest when a person sleeps; a clever child of the Queen, especially her cruel Generals, can torment the barrier and reach through it enough to tug a sleeper fully into the World if they are persistent enough. From there, the sleeper is helpless. It takes years of training to master the World fully, as well, and while the Queen and her children are prepared for it the sleepers most certainly aren't.

The Great Seer says this is a bad omen. It is a sign that the Queen is becoming more and more restless, angry with her lot in life. I am sad to say I am not terribly surprised to hear this. The Master Oracles claim that we are in a great Age of Dreaming, an Age of Strength, and that we possess more people with strong will and passion now than ever before in recorded history. We are able to resist the great Queen and her despairs and sorrows now more than at any other moment, and surely that makes her hungry. But that also makes her desperate, and I am afraid of what she might do when she herself becomes tempted.

I must return to my research. Hopefully we will find a solution before long.

**April 23, 658 AOS**  
>I have had no luck with my research, nor have my other fellow initiates. We are still protected from the Queen of the Night, but it is starting to take more effort than before to hold our barrier of will and belief and keep her at bay. My fellow initiates and I have even been called to attend sessions with the Master Oracles, duties that normally would not be imposed upon us for another year or two, until we are more prepared. Even worse, Oracles that enter the World of Dreams have returned from their meditative trances to report that the world is shifting, and that even the beautiful, calming parts of the realm are becoming warped and twisted, overgrown with the Queen's influence.<p>

More frightening still, some Oracles do not come back at all, and their bodies lie dormant, whispering about the things that have been stolen from them. It is almost unheard of for skilled Oracles as these to succumb to the power of the Queen. They are always strong of will, and have the knowledge to repel her children, but now they are as lost as citizens or newly inducted priests.

The Queen grows more restless, and still we have not found an answer as to why.

**May 13, 658 AOS**  
>Still no success with our research, and nothing on that front has changed. However, something else unexpected has happened: people have come from the outside to Asteria.<p>

It is rare for visitors to come from the outside world. Although our own culture thrives, the patch of sea Asteria Island is a part of is extremely dangerous and extraordinarily difficult to navigate, and people rarely come and go. We have seen increases on ships coming to our harbors in the past ten years or so, but our island is still largely isolated from the outside. Visitors are something of a special occurrence then, and this is an extremely noteworthy visit: it is not just one ship, but dozens. It seems a military fleet from the outside encountered a fierce battle on the open seas, damaging many of their ships and men, and then they were caught in a storm following. Their fleet is in severe disrepair, and their men are starving and desperate.

Naturally, Asteria's citizens are fully willing to help them. The ships have barely managed to limp into our harbors, but now they are safe, and our craftsmen can begin to work with the military's shipwrights to fix their enormous battle ships. Our people don't have much skill in the way of ship crafting, but we will do what we can for these poor men. In the meantime, the soldiers have been brought onto the island proper that we might treat their wounded and feed them properly. Most of the men not suffering any particular injuries have elected to stay on the shores, or in the small fishing villages by the edges of the island. However, we have transported the wounded to the village of Remia, exceptionally well known for its healers and devoted Dream Oracles, and the officers have accompanied them in order to keep watch over their men.

The Great Seer and the Master Oracles are still busy with the issues regarding the Dream World and the Queen inside of it, and cannot be spared at present to meet with these men from the outside, however rare the occurrence. However, I am excited to write that they have selected me, as the most devoted and skilled of the initiates, to act as an ambassador to the visiting fleet. I leave first thing tomorrow morning to head to Remia, where I will remain with the leader of the fleet, Commodore Noroma, until they are prepared to leave. I have been instructed to offer them every possible courtesy. I am sure this will be most exciting!

**May 17, 658 AOS**  
>I have spent several days in the company of Commodore Noroma and his officers, which has not left me with much time to write.<p>

These military men are extraordinarily grateful for, and very surprised by, our help. It seems that without our aid, their entire fleet would have been lost for certain, either to the ocean itself or to starvation. I simply cannot imagine such a barren existence, nor can I contemplate why anyone would turn these men away when they required aid. Our harvests have been bountiful, our island is not in want of supplies for repairs, and our people are skilled in the arts of healing both bodies and minds with patience and kindness; why would we ever refuse these men in their time of need? Perhaps I am merely naive. Asteria has always been a peaceful place. It is rare for even the commoners to engage in fighting, and only the Oracles practice combative techniques with any regularity, out of necessity for the Dream World. It seems the outside world is much harsher than what I have grown used to.

When I explained to the Commodore and his officers that it was simply part of our doctrine to help anyone in need, they seemed intrigued and inquired into our practices. As a devoted Oracle I was of course more than happy to explain about the strength of dreams and the beliefs we have drawn from them. At their request I obtained the fastest carriage I could find and brought them to the Temple of Dreams to illustrate our doctrine further, hoping to perhaps spread our beliefs to the outside as well. Perhaps if the world beyond had our doctrines they would be less inclined to fight and kill each other, when they could instead learn to follow their hearts and use that strength to help others.

Some of the officers seemed interested in the entirety of my lectures. However, Commodore Noroma and his followers seemed particularly interested in learning about the World of Dreams as well. They were shocked to discover a secondary world parallel to our own, and always their questions returned to it. I myself was a bit puzzled by their fixation. The existence of other worlds connected to our own is no real secret; it takes but a little faith to know that there are gods and goddesses on higher planes than our own, and our more ancient recordings speak of visiting shamans and priests skilled at projection into astral planes, as well. The World of Dreams exists just beyond sleep, in the deepest reaches of unconsciousness—this has always been known to us.

But the Commodore was especially fixated on this point, and no matter how many times I tried to continue with the lectures he always came back to it. In particular he seemed interested in knowing if we, the Oracles, traveled there physically in body, and seemed especially disappointed to discover that we do not. Aware of my orders to satisfy our visitors, I added that long ago our strongest Oracles had been able to travel there in body, but the risk became far too dangerous; the Queen of the Night grew a taste for flesh as well as for despair, and the practice had been forbidden for centuries. Only the Great Seer was granted the right to look at the recordings that described the process, and not even he was permitted to use that knowledge. The Commodore seemed satisfied with this answer, but I find myself growing uneasy. Something about this does not feel right.

**May 21, 658 AOS**  
>Another few days have passed with the Commodore. The uneasy feeling I possessed before is beginning to grow stronger. Commodore Noroma has called me to him several times now to describe the World of Dreams to him, and to inquire as to the exact structure and placement of the land-masses inside of it. I did my best to explain, but as I am still a novice, and have only visited the World twice more since my initiation, I am still not very familiar with its organization. I had hoped this would deter him from asking more questions, but the Commodore was very persistent. He brought in rough maps and charts of our island, and questioned me thoroughly about the Dream World's locations in conjunction with those of the land around us. I was asked to stay with him for hours, until one of his officers was able to sketch out a rough map of the Dream World based on my descriptions. Commodore Noroma seemed very satisfied with the results.<p>

I am beginning to grow worried by this obsession. Tonight I will write a missive, to be sent to the Master Oracles and the Great Seer, to inquire into what the Commodore's curiosity might mean.

**May 22, 658 AOS**  
>Received word from the Master Oracles. They commended me for my message and warned me to be cautious about the information I reveal in the future. They, too, sense that something is out of place, and do not wish to bring trouble down upon our peaceful island by meddling in the affairs of much more violent men. Thankfully the wounded are healing nicely and our craftsmen have rapidly picked up the skills of the fleets' shipwrights, speeding along the repairs. It is unlikely that the Commodore and his fleet will be with us for much longer than two weeks, now.<p>

**May 25, 658 AOS**  
>Commodore Noroma is becoming more persistent with his questions regarding the Dream World. He has asked me how large the World is, and whether or not people could enter it from one location and leave it from another. I avoided answering his questions, claiming ignorance due to my status as a novice. In actuality I am now growing very worried. Based on the Commodore's questions, it sounds as though he is considering using the World of Dreams as a sort of tunnel or overland route, for ease of traveling in the real world. I fear his is vastly underestimating the dangers of the World of Dreams, and the power of the Queen of the Night. The raging seas might be dangerous, but they are infinitely preferable to the great Queen's wrath.<p>

**May 29, 658 AOS**  
>I am growing very concerned now. It is approximately a week until the Commodore and his men will be able to leave, but Noroma has not once spoken about his plans for that day. I informed him that our people would of course be happy to provide his fleet with fresh water and food supplies, as well as additional herbs and medicines for those still requiring some care, but it was as though the man never once heard me. Instead he requested that I schedule an appointment for him to meet with the Great Seer himself, and the Master Oracles as well, at the Temple of Dreams. I am in shock, but cannot refuse, and have already sent the request into the city. I pray the Great Seer will know how to handle this better than I, a mere novice.<p>

It shames me, as an Oracle of the Dream, to write such a thing, but I am beginning to regret that I ever tried to teach Commodore Noroma our doctrine. When he and his fleet first arrived they seemed genuinely grateful for our help. Now they disregard our aid and delve deeper into dangers they seem incapable of understanding.

**May 30, 658 AOS**  
>Today has been a day of terrible misfortune. I am simply appalled at the actions of our guests—if indeed we can even call them that anymore.<p>

I received a return missive from the Temple of Dreams. As expected, the request for a meeting was denied: the Master Oracles and the Great Seer are still working hard to protect our citizenry, and discover a way to stop the Queen in all her restlessness from causing even more damage than before. I informed the Commodore at once, but he refused to see reason. He, his officers, and the handful of healthy soldiers stationed at Remia promptly seized all of the carts and carriages in the village 'in the name of the Alliance' and marched on Oneirosa. I sent a message ahead at once by bird to give warning, and thankfully our Oracles were able to clear the citizenry away in the city itself so that they wouldn't be injured. We have no standing military; I dread the thought of what the Commodore might have done to our people if he had felt opposed.

I was unable to reach the city in time myself for the encounter, but I am told afterwards that the Commodore demanded access to the records regarding physical transportation into the Dream World. The Great Seer naturally refused him, and warned the Commodore that the World of Dreams is extremely dangerous. Commodore Noroma seemed angry at first, but was eventually pacified, or so the other initiates claim. Having spent quite some time with the man now, I am very familiar with his obsession, and I do not think this is the last we have seen of it.

Commodore Noroma has insisted upon taking rooms in the Temple of Dreams itself. I have returned to my own quarters in the Temple in order to keep an eye on the man.

**June 3, 658 AOS**  
>More trouble from our visitors. It seems Noroma has his own means of communication, and overnight several of his units camped at the shores have moved forward closer to the city, occupying Remia and the other surrounding villages. I am truly beginning to see how utterly shameless the man is. He has not threatened our citizenry yet, but our people are beginning to grow afraid. That is bad enough in and of itself, but worse when the Queen of the Night and her children are still hungry, and growing ever more restless. We have started receiving more and more reports of common folk with their dreams stolen away in the night, reduced to ranting emptiness with their cores gone. It is because their fear weakens their will, and attracts the Queen to them.<p>

Commodore Noroma has not tried to gain audience with the Great Seer again, but he has done his best to grow unusually friendly with the Master Oracles. Most of them reject the man's attempts out of hand, but one or two have become susceptible to the Commodore's promises of power and a life outside the island. I am horrified that a Master Oracle could fall for such tricks—can they not see that Noroma is a liar? I have tried speaking with them, but they reject me roughly, claiming I am ignorant because I am a novice. These are the same people who praised me at my initiation for my skill and maturity. Surely the world works in cruel ways.

But I must not allow myself to lose focus. If I fall to despair, the Queen will only become stronger. I became an Oracle to follow my dream, and protect my people. I will continue to do so, even if the enemy I face is not the one I first expected to fight.

**June 10, 658 AOS**  
>Noroma grows more insistent by the day. He is frenzied now, insisting that it <em>is<em> possible to use the World of Dreams to travel between islands on this 'Grand Line,' presumably the stretch of dangerous waters we are a part of. Even some of his officers appear unsettled by his insistence that he has seen visions of this type of travel, though they continue to follow him mechanically. What worries me far mores is that two of our Master Oracles are beginning to believe him as well, and are seriously beginning to aid Noroma in rediscovering the process. This is sheer insanity!

For my part, I am deeply concerned that there is more to Noroma's visions than meets the eye. His insistences are strongest at dawn, when he first wakes. I fear he has come too close to the World of Dreams in his sleep, and this is influencing his decisions. It borders on blasphemy to say it, but almost I wish that he would simply be taken by the Queen's children already, and be done with it. Sadly, I fear the implications are far worse...the Queen is enormously clever in her old age, and I am sure she has discovered Noroma's importance on the island. While I have no proof, I am positive it is the Queen's doing that is bringing these visions to Noroma, and that she is up to some vile, terrible plan.

I wish we had never accepted these men upon our island. I wish we could order them to leave; their ships are prepared now, and their men healthy enough. Unfortunately, those soldiers are still stationed amongst our innocent citizenry, and to cause any trouble would mean to effectively sentence them to death. Noroma is holding our entire nation hostage for his foolish plan. I fear what he will do next.

**June 14, 658 AOS**  
>The worst of tragedies has occurred! The Great Seer was found dead this morning in his own bed. There was not a mark on him, and his body was found cold, meaning he had died well into the night with his dreamcore intact. The Great Seer was old, and the Master Oracles in Noroma's shadow insist that he simply died of age after a long, eventful life. Myself, and a few of my own Masters, believe otherwise. The Great Seer's death was too convenient during a time of danger. I believe foul play is at hand.<p>

**June 15, 658 AOS**  
>The new Great Seer ascended today. I fear corruption in our ranks since Noroma's arrival: instead of Oracle Velsik ascending, as the Great Seer had intended and as the Master Oracles' ranks implied, Oracle Ogoma took his place instead. Oracle Ogoma was among the first of the Master Oracles to fall for Noroma's promises. More and more by the day I feel that Noroma has become an agent of the Queen of the Night herself, unintentional or no. I am certain she whispers false promises to him now, all for the hopes of some plan that I cannot begin to fathom.<p>

**June 19, 658 AOS**  
>The atrocities continue. Already Ogoma abuses his power: he has looked upon the ancient records depicting physical immersion into the World of Dreams, and has announced that all of the Oracles will devote their time to using these skills to build a doorway into its depths. Oracle Velsik and his followers, including myself, are appalled. Such practices have been banned for hundreds of years for the safety of all involved, but Ogoma will not see reason. He insists that we live in a new age now, and that we must serve the might of the Alliance of the outside world. He claims that our knowledge of the Dream World will make it much easier for Noroma's "noble" soldiers to invade their enemies without warning, allowing an already old battle to finally be finished with minimum casualties. He is mad. The Dream World was never meant for such cruel acts—despite the presence of the Queen of the Night, it has always been a gift to strengthen will and calm the hearts and minds of man. Who knows what using it for such malicious intent will cause? Our stories have always taught that the Queen feeds off fear and sorrow and despair, but I am sure she will find anger and hatred quite to her liking, as well. If these soldiers attempt to ender the World of Dreams so foolishly, I am sure they will die.<p>

**June 23, 658 AOS**  
>All our attempts to argue with Ogoma to see reason have failed. Several opposing Master Oracles, including Oracle Velsik, have died mysteriously. Ogoma claims that they lost their way with their oppositions to the new era, and their dreamcores were consumed due to their cowardice. I know better.<p>

The people are growing afraid. Oracles from the village chapels send desperate messages daily, begging for help. Their people are being taken more and more every day, left empty and hopeless in their beds, awaiting only to be sent to their final rest. The soldiers do nothing to reassure them. Not even the Master Oracles dare to travel to the World of Dreams anymore; the Queen must be too powerful now by far to risk it, and the whole World has likely been blackened by her evil taint.

It feels like the world is slowly dying. Both worlds, even.

Worst of all, perhaps the blackest omen I have seen yet, is the construction of the doorway that Ogoma and Noroma desire. Ogoma has requisitioned the finest Hallucite for its construction—the same crystal that our own Temple of Dreams is created out of. It is enormously difficult to obtain, and used only for the holiest of procedures, but I call this usage anything but holy. As if to desecrate the Temple even further, Ogoma has the audacity to build the doorway within the very worship hall of the Temple of Dreams itself. This can only lead to disaster.

**June 26, 658 AOS**  
>The doorway is completed. May the dreams and souls of those who use it remain intact.<p>

**June 27, 658 AOS**  
>It seems a god or goddess somewhere has answered my prayers, though only in part. The doorway does not work as it was intended to. Men walk through it to no effect. Noroma is furious. Ogoma cannot fathom what has gone wrong. I am simply grateful that this madness will finally be over with.<p>

**June 28, 658 AOS**  
>It seems I spoke too soon, and I have been a fool for it. Since the doorway did not work, it was left alone and unguarded while we Oracles attended to our own tasks, regardless of who we served. This was sheer stupidity. When entering the worship hall the next morning for the dawn prayers and lectures, I was appalled to find the bodies of several initiates, horribly mauled. They were scattered about the doorway, as though something had tried to drag them through the crystal arch and found it impossible. Ogoma claims it was wild animals, but I suspect otherwise. I was one of the few to examine the bodies, and while they were torn almost beyond repair, I was struck by four unusual puncture marks in each of their chests, identical across all the corpses. I do not intend to let the doorway go unwatched again.<p>

**June 30, 658 AOS**  
>Disaster strikes everywhere. All of the initiates I assign to keep watch on the doorway have been killed, in much the same manner as the first, despite my warnings to not reveal themselves and to come find myself or one of the Master Oracles at the first sign of danger. Additionally, frantic Oracles from around the island have begun sending in reports as well, of strange attacks and mutilated corpses, always found at the coming of dawn. No one has seen the beasts responsible yet, but I am beginning to have my suspicions. Tonight I will order the doors of the Temple closed. Such a thing has not happened in decades, other than for special ceremonial events, but if my suspicions are correct it will be for the better. Hallucite rejects many evils; that is why the Temple is built of it, and why it is used for all our holiest ceremonies.<p>

**July 1, 658 AOS**  
>Ogoma is dead. His body, what was left of it, was found torn to pieces in the worship hall. The Oracles are beginning to grow afraid at the bad fortune that has befallen us since the building of the doorway and desire to take it down. Noroma, the fool, is insistent upon protecting it until it can be fixed enough to allow us to pass into the World of Dreams. His men have camped in the worship hall and threaten to shoot any man that approaches.<p>

There is rioting in the city streets. The people are terrified now, with the sudden onset of beast attacks in addition to their friends and neighbors losing their dreamcores. Their fear and panic is almost tangible, and there are too few Oracles now to shield them with our skills and our dreams. I am deeply afraid of what so much horrible negativity will cause. They beat upon the closed doors of the Temple, begging entry, demanding answers, cursing us for abandoning them in their time of need. How can I possibly explain that it is because of their time of need that the doors are closed to them; that I am trying to save them from things they can't possibly begin to understand?

The Temple is shaking. This is unprecedented in the entirety of Asteria's history. I must investigate.

**Later**  
>We are doomed.<p>

I am afraid that the terror and panic of our citizens, and the anxiety and strife of our Order, was too much for the Queen of the Night to resist. I suspect up until now she had merely sent her children through the doorway to recover food for her. But the tantalizing sensation of so much raw, negative emotion must have given her the strength to drag herself through the doorway, even though it should have shattered naturally under the pressure of so much raw, terrible power. I fear Ogoma, too, was used by the Queen in the end, tempted and twisted enough to taint the Hallucite so that even the mighty Queen of the Night could abuse it without feeling pain.

She is in our world. I doubt she is as strong as she was in her native world; passing through to ours has to have taken something from her, would demand she divide some portion of her strength for her to simply sustain herself here. But even weaker, she is far too powerful for our world, far too malicious, and far too hungry.

Noroma was the first casualty. I suppose it is justice, but in the end I almost feel sorry for the fool. I witnessed his sheer terror as the Queen of the Night had his dream ripped free, fed upon his panic, his horror, and then when he had died of it, his flesh. More of the soldiers followed, as her children harvested those poor souls for her, fed them to her one at a time. I may only have a few moments left in life, but nevertheless, that is a vision I will never forget. Already, the Queen of the Night becomes more and more bloated and gigantic as she feeds, surrounded by her clamoring, eager to please creations.

I tried to do what I could to prevent the disaster. On my own dream, I swear it so. The Temple doors had been shut tight, and although the Queen's creations continued to swarm out of the doorway to the World, as long as they could not leave the building its people would still be safe. The sacred Hallucite that the Temple is built of will still repel the creatures, kill them if they keep contact for too long. They would be trapped forever.

Unfortunately, it was once again the soldiers who destroyed this last chance to protect our people. The ones who had survived the Queen's initial entry tried to run, bursting through the doors into the crowds of people waiting outside, and in their foolishness they unleashed a horde of Nightmares upon the world.

There are too many of them. By now they will have swarmed to the outer reaches of Asteria, and I weep at the thought of them savaging our citizens, stealing their dreamcores and hauling them back to their bloated Queen for her to feed upon their despair and flesh alike. I myself am alive by the grace of some divine presence, though I know not who, or what. I managed to protect a small group of citizens, mostly families with children, and lead them to the records room in the great Temple. It is built of Hallucite, with a vault of the same crystal to protect our most divine and holy relics and records. I will hide my journal inside the vault and pray it is kept safe; it borders on desecration, but I am sure just this once I will be forgiven. The room will repel the Nightmares from us for a while, and they will be distracted by easier prey out on the island proper. But eventually, this place will become our tomb.

I do not think the Queen will go beyond this island, and for that I pray and thank every god and goddess in the higher planes. The doorway has allowed her entry to this world, but it comes at a price. She must constantly channel her energies into it, in order to sustain her enormous powers and form here, and the farther she moves from the doorway and her native World the more difficult it will be to support herself. Her children, always her eyes and hands in the world around her, will be sustained by her own presence and will be able to travel much farther, but I do not think they will be able to leave the island, either. I am thankful that this horror will be trapped on Asteria, but the Queen of the Night is not known to give up easily, and she is very patient. I fear she will find other ways to lure travelers into her web.

I must record fast, now. I can feel and hear the Queen's evil children coming ever closer. I do not know why I even bother; the likelihood that this record will ever be found, with those creatures rampaging outside, is unlikely. But I desperately do not want my people to be forgotten forever, and so even if it will only be remembered on parchment that no eyes will ever gaze upon again, I will record anyway.

If you are reading this, the chances that the creatures have been destroyed or at the very least weakened are high. Although I am most likely dead, I thank you on behalf of myself and my people of Asteria. Your skill and strength are commendable; my people would truly consider you powerful. Do not ever give up on your dreams. To do so invites disaster, such as the one you have no doubt seen all around you here.

If it is at all possible, burn the archway in the worship hall as soon as you can. Intense flames and pressure will destroy Hallucite. It is blasphemy to reveal this, but it is safer for the world for that doorway to be destroyed. Crush the remainder, and scatter the ashes; this should prevent future disasters. And although it might be forward to ask favors when I am dead, please respect what remains of my people. I believe we have suffered enough.

To those of you reading my final words: I am Rezzik Nazuul. My dream was to protect the people of this island. Now, I fear I have doomed them all instead.

* * *

><p>Robin's voice slowly fell silent, and for a moment the whole world felt perfectly still, empty but for the nine of them. Not a one of them moved. They barely breathed, and it seemed like every single one of their gazes were fixated on the little notebook in Robin's lap, where her translation of those terrible words lay quietly.<p>

For her part, Nami felt cold horror building up thickly in her stomach, the same feeling the Nightmares had forced her to feel when they unleashed their terror-calls, or when she had gazed upon the Queen of the Night for the first time. To know the origin of the terrible creatures was not reassuring. If anything, it made them even more horrifying than before, to know they had wormed their heartless, cruel way into the world because of human violence and malice. To think that such a peaceful nation had been ripped apart, replaced with such a terrible evil.

It was truly frightening, to know things could happen that way in the world.

Chopper was the first one to break the silence, after it stretched on for so long Nami was almost sure her own thudding heartbeat could be heard by everyone else. "That's...that's horrible," the reindeer whispered softly, tears glittering in his little eyes. "To think...all those poor people...they must have been so _scared_..."

"Poor Oracle-bro, too," Franky bawled, one meaty hand to his face as he tried hard to hide his own tears. "He tried so hard to save everyone and it didn't do anything in the end..._waaah, I'm so sorry, bro!_"

Franky was perhaps the most vocal about it, but Nami could see that the others were affected in their own ways by the tragic recordings as well. Usopp's eyes were watery, and he sniffled loudly. Brook's head was bowed quietly, and Nami suspected he was able to empathize with being an only survivor, though this Rezzik hadn't survived very long past his own people; after all, Brook was the only one left from his old crew to deliver a message and make good on a dream, too. Robin traced her handwriting carefully with her fingers, as though committing the words forever to memory, and having seen her dream firsthand Nami understood how important it was to her, as well, that people never be forgotten. And Luffy, Zoro and Sanji-kun were all dead silent, their faces perfectly, carefully blank, which was a dead giveaway that they understood the solemnity of the situation as well as everyone else.

"He would be reassured of one thing, I'm sure," Robin said finally, quietly closing her notebook. "It may have taken centuries, but his story was indeed uncovered, and we know the truth of these creatures. I think that would be a comfort to him." The others nodded quietly in agreement. Even if no one else knew, they at least would remember. Nami just hoped it would be enough to appease the dead here.

She blinked in surprise when Luffy stood abruptly, and turned wordlessly to head back into the Temple of Dreams. "Where are you going?"

He turned to look at her, and then around at the rest of his crew. His face still had that blank, solemn look, and he said with perfect, straightforward sincerity, "The old priest guy asked us to do a favor, so we're gonna do it."

Zoro shrugged and stood up as well, resting one of his hands on his swords as he wandered over to his captain's side. "Sounds fair to me," he said. "We'd better get started, this'll probably take all night."

The others were coming to their feet as well now, looking determined, and Nami couldn't help but smile slightly, wearily, as she came to her feet. "You're right," she decided. "It's the least we can do. Robin, you were reading about their religions—are we supposed to handle this any special way?"

Robin smiled softly as well. "As a matter of fact, there is a way," she said. "We must be respectful, but we need to hurry—all of our preparations must be completed by dawn."

* * *

><p>The Straw Hat Pirates worked non-stop for the entire night to meet Robin's translated requirements, and yet for all of that, despite all of the activities each of them had been a part of during the day, not a single one of them felt tired. Nami was glad for it, because they had a lot to do in order to meet Rezzik Nazuul's final requests.<p>

The first was relatively simple. The crew carefully cleared the patch of the Queen of the Night's nest where the crystal archway still lay in shattered pieces, brushing the bones and Dreamshards respectfully aside until the remains of the arch lay alone on the cold stone. Sanji-kun, unable to help with any of the other preparations due to his broken leg and ribs, had been put in charge of making sure each piece of the arch was melted and shattered. His skill of working with fire for cooking was easily transferrable to making sure the right amount of heat was applied to the crystals. He set to the task with malicious satisfaction, and cursed the 'shitty Night Queen' with every flicker of fire.

The rest of them set to the much more time-consuming task of clearing out the great worship hall. Robin told them that the Asterian culture's holy burial ground was set just outside the city, at its Easternmost side, where the sun first touched every moment when it rose. She, Luffy, and Franky departed to the location to begin digging massive graves, but not before Franky constructed a makeshift cart out of some of their supplies, sturdy enough to carry many sets of bones at a time. Chopper was hitched up to this in Walk Point, and waited patiently as Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Brook loaded the cart up with the bones scattering the halls as respectfully as they possibly could, keeping sets together when it was obvious they were connected. When the cart was full Chopper would pull it outside of the city, to the burial grounds, where Robin would use her many hands to unload them and place them respectfully into the graves they were digging. Sometimes Zoro went with Chopper; his strength was required to transport several sets of bleached giant bones that simply could not be moved in any other way, but he did it stoically, without a hint of complaint.

It took them the better part of the night to move all the bones—there were thousands of them, from the tiny rodent and bird bones to the giant bones Zoro was forced to carry. By the time they had cleared the worship hall of the once-living remains, Nami estimated there were only two hours left until sunrise, and that meant the crew had to hurry.

And so they turned next to the Dreamshards.

Sanji-kun's task had finished much earlier than the others. He'd managed to completely destroy the archway only a few hours into the rest of the crew's bone transportation, and collected the ashes together in a tightly bound cloth for scattering later. He'd spent the remaining hours while everyone else worked unpacking every single bag, box and pack the crew had brought with them, laying their supplies aside neatly in stacks and piles while he dumped the containers themselves together in the center of the room.

When the bone collection was finished, every single member of the crew returned to the Temple of Dreams, and began collecting the Dreamshards. They scooped them up in handfuls, pried them out of the walls, and stuffed them into their packs, filling the bags and boxes to the brim with as many of the glittering gems as they could hold. These were loaded into Chopper's cart, and when every single possible container had been filled Chopper was hitched up to the cart once more and headed back for the burial grounds, with the crew following. The Dreamshards were unloaded into a careful pile on the ground in the center of the gravesite, and then the Straw Hats returned to the Temple once more, beginning the collection process anew with once again empty bags.

They worked steadily, but there were thousands of dead Dreamshards, and in the end they barely managed to finish collecting the gems before the sun rose. They made it back to the burial ground with their last load just in the nick of time, scattering the last of the Dreamshards into the enormous mound of gems, and just barely managed to take their places in time as Robin instructed.

The first rays of sunlight slipped through the trees a moment later, and as they struck the mound of Dreamshards it was as though the pile of them was set alight with flames. They glittered brilliantly, so brightly it was impossible to look at them, and even with her head turned away Nami had to squint or let the myriad of colors blind her. The others were the same, squinting against the brilliance in their midst, but nevertheless every single one of them, even Luffy, remained focused on their assigned tasks.

Robin began speaking first. Her voice was cool and calm, almost musical as she recited the ceremonial funeral rites buried in the holy documents she had discovered in the Temple of Dreams. Nami understood none of it—every single word was in some sort of other language, although Robin spoke it without a hint of a stutter or uncertainty, as though she'd been born into it. She spoke the words fluidly, made the correct gestures and signs with exact precision, and finally finished speaking some ten minutes later, just as the sun was starting to creep a little higher, and the first of its rays touched the walls of Oneirosa behind her.

Then she nodded to the others, and as one everyone took to their assigned tasks. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were all armed with the shovels that had previously been used for the excavation in the Temple of Dreams. At the appointed signal they began shoveling the waiting piles of dirt back into place over the weary bones, putting them to rest at last. Brook accompanied them on his violin, playing such a heartfelt, soulful dirge to send the long-dead spirits to sleep that Nami felt her own heart twisting inside her, bringing up memories of Bellemere once more—not unhappy, sorrowful ones, as the Nightmares had, but fond ones, if not exactly cheerful, that she would never forget.

And Franky and Sanji-kun, with a note of finality, set the pile of gleaming Dreamshards alight, shielding their eyes from the brilliance as the gems caught fire. It happened faster than Nami expected, like they'd soaked the little crystals in oil even though they'd done nothing of the sort, and the flames flashed in a wide display of colors that seemed utterly unnatural, impossible, as they fed upon their unusual fuel source. The fire was bright in its own way, but seemed to temper the shining brilliance of the gems, made it possible once more to stare at the pile as it burned.

It was still burning when Nami and the others finished burying the dead, an hour later, although its intensity had lessened somewhat. The crew came and stood around the fire, watching patiently, as though they had to—as though they owed it to these thousands of dead souls to see them finally to their rest. Robin said that according to the religious texts, there was always an Oracle to see off a dead Dreamshard, no matter how long it took. The ancient texts had been very familiar with the little gems, from the days when the priests had traveled to the World of Dreams physically, and had ways to deal with the passing of a dreamless person and their lost goal. There were no Oracles anymore, after centuries of Asteria being gutted, but the Straw Hats would do what they could, anyway. Hopefully it would be enough.

It took another two hours for the gems to be completely burned away, reduced to nothing but ash. Like the crystal archway, they too were susceptible to the fire, if left to burn long enough; Robin had discovered this in the old texts, too. So they waited, silent as the night, even Luffy, who respected these dead dreams far too much to make light of it. And when the fire finally died and those brilliant little gems were gone, they took the ashes and buried them alongside the bones of their masters.

With their respects paid, there was only one thing left to do, and as they headed back to the Temple of Dreams to recollect their things Luffy took care of it with a note of finality. Now that they knew the Temple of Dreams was constructed of Hallucite on the outside, and indestructible to everything but fire, Luffy quietly accepted a cloth-wrapped package from Sanji-kun and stretched his hand far, as high up as he could manage, fastening it firmly around the tall crystal spire of the Temple. He rocketed himself up to the top, wrapped one arm around the spire for balance, and with a note of finality unwrapped the cloth package and shook it as hard as he could. Its contents—the ashes of the crystal archway that had cause the island so much trouble—burst free and scattered in the wind, twirling away in miniscule streams, and after a moment there was nothing left at all of the object that had let such a monster into their world.

There was nothing left for them in this place after that. They had fulfilled Rezzik Nazuul's final wishes, and the people here had been remembered, even if only by a band of scruffy pirates. With that, the Straw Hats unanimously agreed that it was probably time to leave. So they recollected their supplies from where Sanji-kun had stacked them earlier, and Robin carefully cleaned up the records room, replacing the old parchments she had studied, satisfied with the knowledge she had translated into her own notebook. And they left, without the intentions of ever looking back.

Intentions, it seemed, that were not meant to be fulfilled. Halfway out of the city, Chopper suddenly lifted his head and said, "Sanji, this is the place where we found that building..."

"Oh," the cook said, looking a little surprised. "Right. I forgot about it, with all the preparations...perhaps we should let Robin-chan see it, first?"

"The important building you were talking about?" Nami asked, reminded suddenly herself. Both Sanji-kun and Chopper nodded, and she said, "Well, we might as well take a peek while we're here. I mean, if there's other information we could use to help Asteria be remembered, if only by us..."

She let it hang, but the others understood, and Luffy said with a grin, "Let's go look!" His excitement had returned, replacing his oddly solemn cast after the dreams of the dead had been sent to their rest, and he looked enthusiastic about the prospect of even _more_ exploring.

So they did, detouring for another ten minutes until Sanji-kun and Chopper stopped before a building and announced that they had arrived. They had been right: it did look different, important and imposing, like some sort of government facility. Robin studied it with interest and reported a moment later that it did seem like a center of governing. "The religion was intrinsic here, but it did not seem to be a theocracy," she observed. "Perhaps this was where regular day-to-day affairs were handled. If there are papers inside, it would divulge a good deal more information about Asteria's culture."

The building was very unstable, just as Sanji-kun and Chopper reported. Age had not done it justice, and its roof and walls appeared to be crumbling from where Nightmares had crawled across it too many times. But Franky declared it would be easy to reinforce, and with Usopp's help he managed to make it safe enough to explore in a matter of hours. The crew spread out inside the building, searching for another vault that would hopefully contain some of Robin's papers to shed a little more light on ancient Asteria.

They never found records, but Nami was able to discover exactly what the building was for all the same, when she carefully pushed open an old stone door ten minutes into the search. Eyes wide, she stared at the contents of the windowless, cold room, contents that had been hidden for centuries and yet still remained relatively intact after all that time.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "This wasn't a government building. It was a center of _trade._ This is a bank, or a treasury, or something!"

She called for the others frantically, and they came rushing, only to freeze in place and stare at the room's interior. It was filled with gemstones, _ordinary_ gemstones, of every imaginable kind: diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and dozens of other lesser gems lay in scattered, undisturbed piles, organized neatly by kind. They glittered dully in the handheld lamps the Straw Hats carried, as if unused to light after centuries locked in the dark.

"This is...this is..." Nami was in awe. They weren't Dreamshards, worth a person's head or more for each gem. But they were still precious stones, and worth a veritable fortune in and of themselves. Her eyes lit up with delight, and she darted into the room, scooping up the nearest pile of gems (emeralds in this case) with glee. "I'm rich! I'm _rich!_ These are positively _gorgeous!_"

"I'm so happy to have been of service, Nami-swan!" Sanji-kun crooned, but she was too busy scooping up the next closest pile of gems, this time rubies, to notice.

Zoro snorted in disgust. "And I was _almost_ getting used to her _not_ getting greedy over jewels, after handling all those Dreamshards. Guess I was wrong."

"Don't you _dare_ speak that way about Nami-san, marimo! She_ absolutely_ deserves all the treasure she wants after everything she's been through!"

"Tch. _None_ of us would have gone through _any_ of this if it hadn't been for her in the first place, curly-brow!"

"You are just _asking_ me to beat your head in, shit swordsman—"

"As if you could, love-cook, wobbling around on those crutches—"

_"Shut up!"_ Nami ordered them sharply, and they complied sullenly, allowing her to turn back to her precious piles of gems. It hadn't been a dream, thank goodness—every single one of those jewels was still there.

"Intriguing," Robin said. "It seems Asteria had a thriving trade of gemstones, after all—just not the ones we initially expected, based on Adamantina's stories."

"We can keep them, can't we?" Nami said, almost childishly. She was a little wary, after the incident with the Dreamshards, but these gems were all so _pretty_ and they were worth _so much—_

Robin smiled, looking vaguely amused. "The people here believed in something much like karma. They believed if you did a good deed for someone, and helped them take a step towards their dreams, you would be paid with a favor in return. Perhaps Rezzik Azuul is simply thanking us for performing favors for him, and helping his people to their rest."

That was as good as a yes to her, and with a triumphant grin Nami turned on the boys, ordering sharply, "Alright then! Start gathering everything up then, and don't you dare miss a _single gem_, no matter how small. And if you scratch any one of them, you _will_ pay for it, and the price will be _very steep._ Are we clear?"

Sanji-kun trilled, Zoro grumbled, Luffy laughed, and the rest set to work, stuffing the valuable gemstones into their packs, pockets, and anywhere else they could find space. Nami supervised, grinning all the while. Okay, so she still sort of wished they'd never come to Asteria Island, because it had _definitely_ been a terrifying ride. But if they had to suffer through all of that, at the very _least_ they had managed to make a little profit out of it.

They finished gathering up the abandoned gemstones fairly quickly. Nami had them sweep every square inch of the building from top to bottom, in case there was another hidden treasure trove somewhere, or a jewel had been missed. But there was nothing else, and the Straw Hats had been very thorough with collecting their new pirate treasure. Satisfied, they left the merchant building and Oneirosa behind, allowing the ancient city to at last fall silent and sleep, empty once more.

* * *

><p>Two days later they arrived back at the <em>Thousand Sunny<em> once more. The crew had taken its time to return back to the shore, enjoying the comforting quiet of Asteria Island, and they were in no particular hurry now that the Nightmares were forever banished from it. They returned their supplies to the ship and spent one last night camped out on the island. It was one of their classic bonfires on the beaches, when Sanji-kun made barbecue for dinner and the younger members of the crew played tag up and down the beach and Robin identified constellations and Brook played cheerful songs all night long and Franky danced ridiculously and Nami got in a drinking contest with Zoro that, as usual, was never actually conclusive. It was a truly enjoyable night after all their hardships; indeed, it was probably all the _more_ enjoyable for all the things they had been through on Asteria, because they had survived, and that made the world so much brighter, always.

In the morning they cast off from the island one last time, leaving it behind forever. The Straw Hats would not forget, not ever, although they would wait for some time yet before they began spreading the news that Asteria was safe and inhabitable once more. The island had suffered for centuries; it deserved a chance to rest, before it welcomed real life back onto its island. Until then, the Straw Hats would remember. And Nami was sure they would return here one day, when all of them had fulfilled their dreams, to give the island's dead some peace of mind and its new inhabitants hope.

The wind was favorable, and the seas were calm as they sailed. Nami was sure the monstrous storm that had dragged them there would not return, just like the Queen would not return. Its unnatural strength had been a result of the evil creature's conjuring somehow, though Nami wasn't entirely sure how, and with the Queen gone the seas would be normal once more. Asteria grew rapidly smaller in the distance, and the whole crew stood on deck, quietly watching it recede as they sailed away.

Then Luffy took a deep breath, cupped his hands to his mouth, and yelled loudly as he leaned over the rails of the _Sunny_, "Don't worry, old priest guy! I'm not gonna give up, just like you said! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

It was music to Nami's ears to hear that enthusiastic, absolutely sure declaration again, and she could practically feel the warmth and confidence of Luffy's Dreamshard once more, this close. Without even thinking about it she threw herself at her captain and wrapped him in a squishy hug, and she felt several of the others crashing into her and Luffy as they did the same. He grinned widely and seemed to understand, letting his crew pile on without argument, and even Zoro and Robin—never the hugging types—were still smirking and smiling respectively at Luffy's promise.

And on the horizon, even though there was no wind to speak of, Asteria Island's flame colored trees seemed to wave in answer, as if restored to peace once more.

* * *

><p><strong>Fun Fact:<strong> The first Great Seer dies on my birthday, and the construction of the gate happens on the birthday of one of my OC's, whom I derive my pen-name from. Fun times!

And that's a wrap! Another epically long fanfiction by Velkyn Karma, finished. I hope you all enjoyed it :) I've also got another surprise in the works that should be posted in a couple weeks. **Hint:** If you enjoyed _Mindshattered,_ you'll want to keep an eye out for this one.

As usual guys, the end of the fic is the **_only_ time that I will ever request reviews.** I worked very hard on this story, and since it is now completed, I would dearly love to hear you feedback!

~VelkynKarma


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